My family and I have decided to move ourselves from Bakersfield California, often referred to as the armpit of California, to Washington state. Just in case you don't know anything about Bakersfield, let me give you a few highlights. Let's begin on a high note, our air is not the worst in the country, thank god, that honor goes to Arvin California which happens to be less than 25 minutes outside of Bakersfield. Since we hold up in the same valley many people think Arvin is simply a suburb of Bakersfield, and I guess it sort of is.
Bakersfield is a veritable cornicopia of distinct and unusual aromas. What is that odor? You may wonder. Is it cow manure? No. Could it be one of the many local meth labs cooking up a new batch? No, it doesn't smell exactly like that either. Maybe it's the deadly H2s gas produced by the near constant drilling for oil, or maybe it's coming from one of the hundreds of oil pumping units which crank away happily 24 hours a day in every corner of this incredible place? That could be it, or it maybe it's simply a cocktail of the three combined. I do love the smell of napalm in the morning.
The scenery here in Bakersfield is unique to say the least. There has never been what you might call a planning committee here per se. I mean not in the way that you would imagine at least. In its place we have a group of local officials paid off by the big oil companies to assure that the ugliest sights in the USA will be prominently displayed and enjoyed on even the most mundane drive to the grocery store. If you love to see oil being pulled from the earth, or processed into whatever petroleum product that may be needed at the time, you really should visit Bakersfield.
More than anything else, apathy remains Bakersfield's true Achilles heel. Huge ugly signs line the streets here, and for the most part people seem okay with that. Believing that the earth is falling apart, or that we need to be proactive environmentally is an idea looked at with suspicion. Do you want the city to pick up your recycling? It's possible if you don't mind paying a yearly fee for the bin, but make sure you don't try and recycle those tin cans, or that kind of plastic. This city wants to make the world a better place, but only if they can make some money along the way. The general population seems to have an equal concern, they do a great job of recycling anything with CRV attached, and it pretty much stops there. Don't get me wrong, there's a handful of people who try here, (you know who you are) but by no means are they the majority.
And so here we are, on our way out, packing our things and heading to the great unknown state of Washington. We aren't homeless, not yet at least. We have procured a nice apartment for the family to live in. I don't exactly have a job, but I write for a couple places and I do get paid for it. I guess that's what it means to write professionally. The future is unknown at this time, anything could happen, but I believe that this will be a great adventure. I believe my children will experience new things, in new ways, and they will grow and become more interesting adults because of it. I also believe that we will finally after many years, have a chance to wake up in the morning and breath fresh clean air, and that, I am looking forward to.
