Another Day in the Country
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
It's green in California. I've just returned to Kansas after three weeks of re-entry into California culture. It's the life of a transplant. When I'm in Ramona, there are things that I miss about California. When I am in California, there are things that I miss about Kansas.
It's also green in Kansas. I was glad to see the wheat fields green and sad at the touches of brown that were caused by the late spring cold snap. One of my neighbors said, "Every time you leave, it snows in Ramona. You better not leave in July."
Green, in California, has become a political slogan — it isn't talking about green grass or rolling wheat fields. Green means you are doing all you can to protect the environment. Green means you may be driving one of those little electric cars. Green means you bought an actual push mower to do your lawn — you know, one of those without a motor. Green means that you are an avid recycler. Green means you ride your bike to the grocery store and bring your own bag (cloth).
"I stopped using the leaf blower," said my son-in-law. "Do you know how much pollutants all these contraptions put into the atmosphere?" I did! And, I've thought leaf blowers were silly things right from the get-go!
"Why would you just blow leaves from here to there?" I've always wondered. It seemed to me to be a useless exercise. If we want to get rid of leaves in Kansas, we either let the wind do the blowing (zero emissions) or we rake them up and put them in our garden (recycling) for compost.
I did have to chuckle though at the peer pressure surrounding the leaf blowers, the lawn vacuums, and the humungous mowers and I am in favor of limiting the use of all those gadgets that spew pollutants into our atmosphere. I'm all for green.
Remember the days when an exotic fur coat was a status symbol — whether it was mink or coyote? Now fur coats are off the must-have list. In the San Francisco airport there were display cases warning travelers about gifts they may be tempted to purchase that are "no-no's" because they are made from endangered species of animals. I was shocked to see a pair of deer skin gloves in the display case. I guess it was a particular breed of deer because so far as I know we have plenty in Kansas.
"Come on down," I wanted to say. "We have deer in Kansas! We're also green!" Joking aside, we're blessed, folks, but if we don't take care of what we have, protect our environment, we may find ourselves without!
This past weekend, I made the mistake of attempting to drive from the Napa Valley to Sacramento on a Friday afternoon. In Ramona, we call a traffic jam two parked cars and a dog in the road. No need to stay off the roads on Friday. Now, on Sunday, you may find some congestion on Main Street as folks wait for a table at the Ramona Café, but Fridays are clear — the restaurant isn't open.
In California, however, Friday afternoons are a bad time to get on the freeway — everybody is going somewhere for the weekend. When you come off Hwy. 12 to enter I-80, you come off a winding little country road, over an overpass and bingo you see the freeway. Let me tell you what a shock eight completely filled lanes of traffic are to the eyes of a Kansan from Ramona.
I'd told a friend to expect me at 5:30 in Sacramento. I had to call and revise the schedule. "You'll have to excuse me," I apologized, "I'm used to spending my days in the country and I've completely forgotten about such a thing as bumper-to-bumper traffic." There was laughter on the other end of the line.
"See you in a couple hours," he said. "It's just another day in the city."
