Living in the Southwest

Southwest people are friendly, open and hospitable.

I first came here in high school, moved back to my home state for a short time, and returned here as a young adult.

Local air is polluted and water is scarce. Summers are hot. Trees and wildflowers are plentiful, as well as open prairies. There is enough wildlife for hunting.

Men love sports . . . And football a lot. They work hard and play hard. Many of them drive pickups. They generally make good fathers and grandfathers.

Kids work hard in school; their teachers are underpaid. A fairly good percentage of them go to private schools.

Women can be relatively independent, some even "sassy." Many have careers or a paid or volunteer job. They are wonderful friends. Some, just like their men, can be rather conservative.

This is the Bible belt. I am a "blue" living in a very "red" state. The Democratic party used to predominate, now Republicans are clearly in the majority. Judges run for election and belong to political parties. We have only one newspaper, but several TV and radio stations.

Help for vulnerable people in need is relatively limited. "Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps" is what is too often expected by the state government. Our city has a very good mayor, and a diverse city council representing a highly diverse population.

The military, space and defense industries play a major part in the economy. So does high technology. This is not a union town. Shopping malls have the same homogeneous chain stores as the rest of the nation. Most freeways are crowded. Drivers are too aggressive in some cities and more polite in others. Public transportation takes a back seat to automobiles.

The seasons are not evenly divided in length. There is a long summer, a short spring and fall and a medium length winter. Fall is my favorite season; the winters are relatively mild. Occasional ice storms cause chaos on the roads, and we get a small amount snow which usually melts within a day or so.

We have tornados. These storms or threats of storms come far too often. As skies fill with tall thunderheads of a very strange green tint, an eerie quiet sets in, and the sirens start to wail. Really big tornados can scourer a wide swath of death and destruction and they scare us to death.

Housing is relatively good and inexpensive. Our city has an active center city life, with many people living downtown in converted vintage buildings. There are also some very old and beautiful homes of historical significance that have been preserved. However, the preservation movement is not as well supported as in other parts of the nation.

Medical care is excellent, though not very accessible for poor people. Culture - music and the fine arts - is active and well patronized. Charities are well supported. Higher education is, compared to the rest of the nation, pretty affordable. Both community colleges and universities are well attended. Our college sports teams rate nationally, though there are occasional recruitment scandals.

I live here by choice. Our quality of life is good, I think, and we feel blessed by having our family and friends nearby. We live in a wonderful city that feels like a hometown.