November 22, 2014 ~ Los Banos, CA
Los Banos (the baths) is in the San Joaquin Valley which is currently suffering from severe drought, threatening farmers and wildlife. It's the government's fault of course, and large billboards tell you that or comment on the obvious fact that water means life / livelihood.
I spent the day here, working, shopping at Target for gifts and odds and ends and hanging out in Starbucks for two hours. While undoubtedly very hot in the summer, now at the end of November it was sunny and in the 60s. I kept hearing from Michigan about what was happening there with the cold and snow! Or Indianapolis or New York. Here were palm trees, huge aqueducts and fields to a far horizon, some newly plowed, some with fruit and nut trees growing in precise geometric grids.
I have entered Hispanic Land where Spanish is heard more than English and the people are attractive, courteous, pleasant...One small boy was in Target and kept exclaiming loudly to his sister, "This is a piñata! See, this is piñata...a piñata!!!" The kids are beautiful. They are often with both parents.
I am reading Lords of the Plains by Max Crawford:
WWW.AMAZON.COM
In this historical novel by Max Crawford, the U.S. 2nd Cavalry rolls into Texas in the 1870s with orders to keep the peace and persuade the fierce Comanches to move quietly onto the reservation. Captain Philip Chapman tells a tale of high adventure: the hardships of a forced cavalry march, an ambush by the Comanches, an idyllic summer camp at the Caballo Ranch, the epic trek made by Chapman and his K Troop across the Ilano estacado, and defeat of Tehana Storm, legendary half-white Comanche chieftain, in the decisive battle at Palo Duro Canyon.
It's informative, descriptive, beautifully written....
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