It takes an half hour to get to a mall. Just accept that and then if
it only takes you 20 minutes to drive the three miles to the mall, you'll be happy.
Actually, I used to figure 35 minutes to get to North County Fair. That was only
freeway time though. Now, if you add the half hour it takes me to crawl up Rancho
California Road from my house to the freeway, then it takes an hour to get to North County
Fair, making the Promenade definitely closer. Of course, for the Promenade Mall, I don't
have to deal with the freeway. However, I do have to deal with the mall when going to the
freeway.
I feel like an Israelite – it will take me forty years to accept that Egypt is gone.
Wait, does that mean I’m in the promised land? Maybe I better go with an Israelite
just taken captive into Babylon. That’s more what it feels like. I know, get over it,
you are telling me. After all, housing prices are back up after years of recession and
foreclosure.Dollars from development are paying for parks and swimming pools and maybe
even a cultural center or children's museum.
All cities have traffic. You can't fix it.
I went to New York City about a month ago, the land where eyes never meet. One evening I
popped into a small store to buy some postcards -- 10 for a dollar and I had 5. I smiled
at the proprietor and made a joke. He was so taken aback he said my smile made his day and
gave me the
cards for free. Tough neighborhood.
I've been to the new mall once. Robinson's/May is actually my favorite department store,
so I was excited to go. Outside, the day was scorching and it looked like Temecula all
around; but when I walked inside, Temecula disappeared and I was back in New York City. I
didn't see anyone I knew. No one. The clerks, the patrons, everyone was a stranger and
they looked right past me.
We bought something and the stranger asked my zip code. That’s when I lost it --
92591! 92591! I wanted to yell. I live here! It is the same zip code as this store! What
is your zip code, I wanted to ask, and where did you come from and how did you get here
and why are you here, I wanted to demand. I left immediately, almost crying. My daughter
said I needed to get a grip.
I do. I will. I'm erasing the horse meadow from my memory and I am glad it is a mall and
not Wal-Mart. Just give me 40 years to adjust and stop murmuring. How long were the
Israelites trapped in Babylon?