Whoever said life'd be easy? No one, and with that in mind I left the sylvan groves of old Texas for the concrete metrosprawl of the DFW megacity, not once but twice. Why? Because I had meetings in the 'sprawl and duty called.
The first part of the drive on I35W isn't bad, a fairly empty 4 lane highway through rolling farmland, passing by Itasca and Grandview. Then you get to Alvaredo and the pace picks up as you drop into the Fort Worth lowlands.
Metroplex at Night. Yellow Line = Connecticut
There you are in the Metroplex, on a multilane racetrack dreamed up in bowels of Hell. It goes on for miles, 9,286 square miles to be precise, about two thirds the size of Holland and larger than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. It's growing, too, like a monster.
Well you can't blame people for moving here from socialist hellhole states, but I'd argue you can blame the so-called urban planners who decided that city and 20 lane highway were synonyms. You'd think, after several thousand years of Western civic culture, that we could come up with something better than the 'sprawl. Thank God I live in a road, said no one ever.
It Was Going to be This
Great, readers, will be the fall of it. I know, that'll never happen because the way we live now will go on forever and ever, per saecula saeculorum, but imagine the grid went down, which of course it never will because the grid's immortal, but say for example it did. And you're living in the 'spawl with no water, electricity and before long, food. How would you get out?
But Ended up This
Dirt bikes, on foot? Apocalypse aside, the meetings were good, though it seemed strange to be in the city. Back in the country, Mexican music's in the air and with it the delicious aroma of slow cooked carnitas.
Drive safe,
LSP
12 comments:
A few years ago business took me to Grand Prairie. DFW isn't too bad. You wat traffic purgatory? Atlanta, Friday 5 pm.
Los Angeles, LSP and WSF. (like Atlanta and DFW, but larger and even more progressive) It brings to mind the question of whether LA is more evil than DC, San Francisco or NYC? I have to leave the subject of degrees of evil to the professionals. For a layman, evil is just evil.
However, today that's a memory. The two lane paved road that runs in the area where I live now seldom has another car on it. Most of those people are using the road as a shortcut as they rush from here to there. It runs through scenic mountains and the only real hazards are deer and elk who taunt drivers to hit them. There was a pine tree that fell across the road about two weeks ago. I was able to navigate around it.
I find it annoying that I need to go to the greater Kansas City area as well every now and then. I have a strong distaste for heavy traffic and those red lights seem to know when I'm coming. Yesterday was one of those days. The only thing that made it (barely) tolerable was that we were there for a granddaughter's birthday party. When it was over, we were down the road back to sane country again. Working the range today. Usually at some point things slow down a bit and I can burn a few rounds. That'll help.
Our one trip to the DFW area was enough to convince us not to do that again.
Well, I started in Pittsburgh where people knew how to drive, then Phoenix area where most did, then and now in Cincinnati where only about 24% know how to drive. No Boston, we are worse than you.
I haven't done the country thing yet. I'm looking forward to downsizing from our current 2 acre weed farm, but Madeline wants a huge country estate so she can take in every dog around the world that needs rescue. For me it's cats since they are more self-sufficient. Fortunately we can't afford that.
We will end up somewhere that is at least semi-country, again, probably Tejas, likely the last American state still standing when the SHTF.
WSF, you have a point, it could be worse, far worse. Mind you, there's places and times that are especially inner-circle hell, the mix master in Dallas at 6.30 am and 5.30 pm, for example. But I'm spoiled living in the country so it all seems heinous!
LL, as a professional, I can assure you that there's degrees of evil and LA is right at the top. Perhaps you think this some kind of sophistry but not so fast, where did Harvey Weinstein emanate from? I rest my case.
Be careful on those roads, both paved and otherwise. And build the fires high, we must keep the light of civilization burning in the new Ice Age.
Jim, I totally sympathize. It seems weird to drive into the city, like a parallel universe. Still, hope the party went well and you managed to have fun at the range.
I get that, Linda, I really do.
Kid, move to Texas, it's alright. That said, avoid the megacity if you can.
Blame Robert Moses. He has a lot to answer for. And Harlan Bartholomew.
Good call, Lukeya (I looked them up...).
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