Welcome!

October 19, 2010

Cloudy and humid this morning. Feel like I’m in the tropics. Yesterday I got fingerprinted so I can teach in the schools. In the evening I received a call from a member of the Kerrville Welcome Committee. She asked what our interests are (do we have any?) and said she’ll stop by next week with our packet – restaurant coupons etc. 

I promised myself I would not bad mouth California once I left, but I remember how the mountain “locals” hated summer tourists and new people moving in to the community. Even John was guilty of this: “Blow up the bridge!”  he’d say – meaning the bridge over the Fresno river (which was usually completely dry) that separated the valley from the foothills.

It was the same “go home!” attitude I remember growing up in Santa Monica. “No Vals” could be seen graffitied on beach walls, meaning surfers from the San Fernando Valley were not welcome. My father used to pride himself on not going “east of Sepulveda.”  Little cliques.  Keep out the riff raff.  John calls it the “Upstairs/downstairs mentality.”

I haven’t experienced that here. People are curious about why we chose Kerrville – for the climate, landscape, culture, I tell them  – but not why we’d choose Texas. Texans have a sense of pride about their state.      

Today I’m going to the Senior Center for a writing class. They have a full slate of activities every weekday: yoga, bridge, Scrabble (!!!), art, etc.

And tomorrow, finally! John will arrive. I can’t wait to see him and get him settled in so we can explore this interesting country together.