"I love Fresno" is a phrase not many people who haven't lived in the Central Valley metropolis will ever utter. I spent my college years there; I proposed to my girlfriend there; my family goes back there a few times a year to play miniature golf and eat at one of our favorite restaurants. I'm a fan of Fresno. Trouble is, Fresno is foggy most of the winter and smoggy most of the summer. Days are gray when it's cold and brown when it's hot. There are a few in-between days, but the town is a place of extremes. I was reminded of the good old days in Fresno today as smoke from the 5,000-acre-plus Lockheed Fire blew into San Benito County on strong westerly winds. Within the span of an hour, a blue sky day became brown and miserable. My eyes were irritated and my throat burned. Football conditioning at San Benito High School was cancelled because coaches didn't want athletes breathing in the unhealthy air and dozens of calls to local authorities asked if there was a fire in our area. Driving home from school, I couldn't even see the Diablo Range. It was like being in Fresno again, where residents tend to forget they live at the foot of the Sierra Nevada range because its so often shrouded in fog or blurred by smog. The predictable afternoon westerly breezes off the ocean are nature's air conditioner for Hollister, but today those breezes became a smoke machine. (photo courtesy of Richard Flink's Photostream)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Where am I? Fresno?
"I love Fresno" is a phrase not many people who haven't lived in the Central Valley metropolis will ever utter. I spent my college years there; I proposed to my girlfriend there; my family goes back there a few times a year to play miniature golf and eat at one of our favorite restaurants. I'm a fan of Fresno. Trouble is, Fresno is foggy most of the winter and smoggy most of the summer. Days are gray when it's cold and brown when it's hot. There are a few in-between days, but the town is a place of extremes. I was reminded of the good old days in Fresno today as smoke from the 5,000-acre-plus Lockheed Fire blew into San Benito County on strong westerly winds. Within the span of an hour, a blue sky day became brown and miserable. My eyes were irritated and my throat burned. Football conditioning at San Benito High School was cancelled because coaches didn't want athletes breathing in the unhealthy air and dozens of calls to local authorities asked if there was a fire in our area. Driving home from school, I couldn't even see the Diablo Range. It was like being in Fresno again, where residents tend to forget they live at the foot of the Sierra Nevada range because its so often shrouded in fog or blurred by smog. The predictable afternoon westerly breezes off the ocean are nature's air conditioner for Hollister, but today those breezes became a smoke machine. (photo courtesy of Richard Flink's Photostream)
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Pretty much the same in Bakersfield. Spent quite a few years in Fresno, currently in Bakersfield - if I had to choose a permanent place to live it would be...... Morro Bay!
ReplyDeleteI added your blog to my blog list on my blog.