Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The "Local Wave"

Sunday after church I packed up the kids and started the the hour-and-a-half drive to my parents' house. Chad was scheduled to work 10-hour shifts to cover the Memorial Day crowds at Roosevelt Lake, so I decided to skip out on temporary single-mom experience. It's always so nice and relaxing to visit my parents. Bree absolutely LOVES her "Gamma and Papa." And my sister Danelle's old room is a Disney wonderland complete with Pooh's 100-Acre Wood wall murals, piles of stuffed characters, a hug bin of small plastic figurines, and a plethora of Disney DVDs. Bree spends most of her time in that room, coming out for the occasional bite of food or a ride on "Papa's Tractor."

Well, on the drive there I was marvelling about several things. I chuckled as I passed a car-full of old folks standing next to a large saguaro cactus to get their picture taken in Mammoth. I suppose a saguaro is quite a sight if you don't see it every day. And then as I got nearer to my parents' house I wondered, "Who in their right mind would live here? Whose brilliant idea was it to stake claim here?" Oh, yeah, that was my great-grandfather. And the family just stuck around. My mom escaped for about 25 years, but she's back there again. Well, I guess it is sort of pretty. The 'river' that runs under ground makes those dead-looking mesquite trees miraculously come to life every spring. I also wondered how long it will take for the I-10 Bypass highway to be built, providing some much-needed pavement to the road to my parent's house (it's about a 20-minute drive on a rough dirt road).
What makes me smile, though, is the way all the locals on that dirt road wave to each other as they pass. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and my friend Mackenzie invited me to Lopez Island (one of the San Juan Islands in Washington's Puget Sound). Mackenzie informed us that everyone on the island waves when they pass one another--so you better wave or else they'll think you're a tourist. (I was tickled that this custom was mentioned by Wikipedia!). So as I drove to my parent's, I waved to the other cars. Some of them waved too, and I knew they were locals. The cars that didn't wave were suspiciously clean, a non-local dead giveaway.
So, even though I'm technically not a local, I did live out there for like 7 months. So I figure that gives me the right to participate in the "Local Wave."

5 comments:

Tina said...

Dan and I loved your post. Dan loves Arizona and loved how you described it. I love to read about your thoughts and how eloquently you express yourself.

emilybolles said...

I remember that trip to Lopez. That was so fun. I love the small town, personal feel. Jessy lives in Tempe, AZ and has for the past year or so. She loves it... but she has some wild stories involving scorpions and huge spiders.... is she just being over dramatic? She is trying to convince the whole family to relocate... but I don't think I could handle coming across a tarantula every now and again!???

See Mack Snow said...

Lopez made the blog! And I made the blog! This is so exciting! I feel like I've arrived. Lopez and I both appreciate the shout-out. And I'm so glad that Wikipedia remembered to include the wave!

Lopez beats all. Best place in the world.

And by the way, Megan, I love your blog! You have such a great life and it makes me really happy for you when I read all about it. :)

Love you!

Megs said...

Thanks for your comments girls--you have no idea how much they mean to me! And Emily, I've never seen a Tarantula in Arizona. Scorpions occasionally, yes, but mostly outside, and as long as we remember to bug-spray, there's no problem!

Jaime Lynne said...

I so wish there was a more friendly tone in Las Vegas.
Another advantage to small town living and dirt road driving.

I *heart* Globe.

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