Dear Editor,
For those of us who have chosen to reside here in beautiful northwest Arizona, there is almost an overabundance of things for which to be thankful.
As most folks who live here are immigrants from other states, it might be interesting to examine the contrasts between here and those other places and to examine just why folks have chosen to live here. Now, with my tongue planted very firmly in my cheek, here are some descriptions of those other places.
Northern tier states offer lots of greenery and fishing and hunting and opportunity for gardening and sometimes a mythical history, but then there is that dreaded, almost unspeakable word: winter. Winter, when the kids all have to have new shoes, boots, coats, gloves, hats, scarves, earmuffs because they’ve outgrown or lost last year’s stuff. The cars and trucks have to have new winter tires, antifreeze, wiper blades, engine heaters, and more.
Midwest states offer some of the nicest people around, some grand cities and some of the greatest home cooks, plus some of the best fruit and vegetables to be found anywhere. Unfortunately, those same areas suffer some of the heaviest, gooey, drippiest humidity found only in our shower cubicles here. Then there are those nasty black twisty tornadoes that always come at the wrong time and to the most unfortunate places.
Southeastern states offer some of the best food anywhere, offered by some of the most gracious people, but there are also several varieties of poisonous snakes and, in some locales, seven foot long lizards with lots of big teeth and bad tempers and feral hogs the size of a Volkswagen. We don’t even want to talk about hurricanes hundreds of miles wide.
Now, consider our beloved Northwest Arizona where we have a very short, very mild winter (hardly worthy of the term, winter) and we have a very pleasant lengthy spring and comfortable fall on both ends of a pretty short hot summer. We have no tornadoes or hurricanes and we have no huge river systems flooding us out of our homes. We can, if we choose, walk around in our shirtsleeves in much of our short little winter. We don’t have to have snow tires on our vehicles.
We don’t have to buy firewood or heating oil by the ton for heating our homes. We have so few freezing nights, it becomes a special occasion to have to wrap the outdoor pipes and hose bibs. We have the privilege of driving a half hour to fish in the Colorado River. We can drive a bit over half an hour and be in the Hualapai Mountains and the tall pines and savor the grand vistas from there. We can go trail riding and see some sites never to be seen by most folks. We can go prospecting for gold if we choose. Whether or not we find gold, it is always fun. If we are bent on throwing away some money, there are both Las Vegas and Laughlin close at hand. We can easily go exploring some of the many ghost towns in the area. We can enrich ourselves by studying the cultures of and politely learning from the several Native American tribes in the general area.
Where else in our great nation can you begin a conversation with “Howdy” and not be laughed at. This is, in many respects, still the west people see on TV and in the movies. Most of our corner of the state is still real ranching country with real, honest-to-goodness working ranchers and cowboys and cowgirls, and real live cattle who graze their way around the open range (yes, still open range, they go where they want).
Where else can a person go and still find real wild horses or real wild deer roaming close enough for us to be able to see their beauty and grace. This very much like visiting a zoo, but the animals are not captive. I have seen in my yard, bobcats, skunks, big lizards, coyotes, deer, and sadly enough, only the paw prints of a mountain lion. Flying overhead I see the unbelievably gracious flight of the soaring birds, the Golden Eagle, the Turkey Vulture, and various hawks. Nearer my personal plane of existence, here on the ground, I enjoy the many flocks of Quail and Doves and the myriad smaller, less spectacular birds.
I know our summer heat, as short as it is, is cursed and joked about by those who come from cooler areas. I am sure we have all heard “It’s always HOT in Arizona” and “But it’s a dry heat”. That heat and its accompanying warm dry winters are the very reasons so many winter visitors (Snowbirds) come here so they can leave the pain of frostbite and the agony of arthritis behind for a time and why they come back to our bit of paradise time after time and year after year.
For those who are serious, or even semi-serious photographers, there are many scenic vistas and spectacular bluffs and mountains enough to boggle the mind. Our crisp clean air and the changing light can be totally engrossing.
For the curious mind and the student of real history, there are good museums and those quaint, fascinating, living ghost towns and tourist attractions of Oatman and Chloride. Each in its own unique way is a captivating glimpse of the rich history of our corner of the world.
One interesting note about the people who live here, they generally respect the privacy of others and they stay pretty much to themselves until a neighbor has trouble, then everyone comes running to help those in need. This is not to indicate that there is no social activity or lively spirit here. There are numerous houses of worship here with active, vigorous congregations. There are also many clubs and interest groups, with something for just about every conceivable interest.
Yes indeed, aren’t we fortunate to live in this bit of paradise.
Jack Hommel
Kingman
