{sigh} As I grow to hate the noise and the crime and the loony toons more and more, I wonder: IS there a place for me in (un)lovely Central Arizona?
Quite possibly not.
North Central Phoenix, where the Funny Farm presently resides, is…what?
* Aging
* Cheaply built, by and large (okay, okay: but better than most newer districts)
* Crime-ridden (no, I would not live here without a pistol and a dog. Why do you ask?)
* Spectacularly noisy
* Low on decent schools (you have to put your kid in private or parochial school if having them learn anything matters to you)
* Segregated (but so is everyplace else around here: Arizona is, after all, a Southern state)
* Hotter than the Hubs: essentially unlivable during the summer, for many folks
So… If I weren’t here in Noise Central, where would I be?
Sure wish I was at the ranch, yea verily even as we sit here and contemplate the local lunacy.
La Maya & La Bethulia moved to the Monterey area in California. Beautiful spot.
But…I can’t afford to live in California, not even (like them) in a trailer. Nor do I especially want to: habitable parts of that state are crowded, noisy, hectic, and spectacularly expensive.
So….where would I go, if I could?
Dunno. The Oro Valley outside of Tucson, maybe. It’s bit on the annoyingly suburban side for my taste: not fond of driving halfway to Timbuktu to fill a grocery cart.
Prescott, a small town up on the Rim north of Phoenix, is very pretty and has its charms. Expensive, though. Lacking in the big-city amenities I’ve come to expect.
Flagstaff: Colder’n’a by-gawd during the winter. Also lacking in little amenities like decent medical care and upscale grocery stores.
Yarnell: a wide spot in the road on the road from Wickenberg to Payson, waaayyy out in the middle of nowhere. Quiet, relatively cool, pleasantly hick-ridden. Our ranch was located just outside of Yarnell.,..and boyoboy, I sure do miss it!
Fountain Hills: A pricey suburb on the northerly edge of Scottsdale. Nice, toney area. My cousin lives there: not necessarily a recommendation, since she decided, some years ago and for unknown reasons, that she can’t stand my existence.
Sun City: Hate Central. And directly under the flight path for the daily jet airplane exercises at Luke Air Force Base. Noooo, thankee!
Truth to tell, there really isn’t anyplace within reasonable living distance of my son’s place and my own stomping grounds that I can even begin to afford. I’m incredibly lucky to have snabbed the Funny Farm before real estate prices rose into the stratosphere, and certainly could not afford to buy anything comparable within reasonable traveling distance of my son’s place.