![The Streets have looked gay and annoying ever since they replaced Sodium Vapor Lamps with LEDs [1024x576 - 79KB]](https://poal.co/static/images/41c6c4c48cac2424.jpg){kind=link}
Similar in Los Angeles. My little slice of heaven was VERY barrio/ghetto, but had the same light pollution effect. There was something to be said though for driving down PCH at 1 in the morning with nothing but those sodium lights giving small pools of reality in a sea of black. Or driving up to Rio Hondo College late at night, and looking out over the valley to watch the cars and city breathe.
For all the issues that fucking state had/has, it really nails it when it comes to ambiance and feeling like you exist.
I was in the high desert and watched the fruit bats stake claims on the neighbors small orchard. We would ride our bikes among the cactus and Joshua trees and secretly dream of cursing PCH under the same sodium lights.
It's an experience. For sure. If I still lived there, I'd make an offer to take you for a drive if you ever made it out that way. Huntington Beach was another wonderful drive. As was Monterey, up north.
I spent MANY summers out in Perris though, so I totally big what you mean about riding through the deserts of CA too. CA is one of the only places in the world you can go to basically every biome in one state.
Fuck. If I could get anywhere close to the desert I knew... I haven't been in the area for decades, but I'm sure my desert has been paved. I'm more conservationist that environmentalist but I can still lament the passing of an era. I will forever be an oblivious youth with a 35mm camera taking pictures of the desert beauty because at some level I knew it couldn't last.
I used to take a trail thru the desert to my school bus stop instead of following the dirt road. Most days it was fine. One day I didn't watch my step. I ended up with a cactus bulb stuck in my ankle. One of the worst pains I've ever felt was having it removed with plyers. You couldn't offer me anything that would make me even consider giving up that memory for a moment.
For all the issues that fucking state had/has, it really nails it when it comes to ambiance and feeling like you exist.
Yeah, it is such a silly thing to complain about, it has absolutely no real affect on any of us.
But fuck, I feel bad for my nephews, who will never get to experience that mystique.
it has absolutely no real affect on any of us
The very fact of this thread is proof that this statement is completely false. The affect is deep and profound. It sparks the soul. It speaks to the essence of youth and the dire need of age; both long for beauty and beauty should forever win out over this awful age.
I disagree that it's silly. It's the sadness for a situation that will never return. Like smoking sections in resturants. Looking forward to sitcoms on a specific night. Sitting near a lake or ocean at night just to feel the breeze. So many tiny things that kids today won't experience for a lot of different reasons
So many tiny things that kids today won't experience for a lot of different reasons
I really do miss the era before cellphones, where, as a kid, we would have to meet up at a specific time and place.
Waiting close to a train station as a 13 year old, at a specific landmark near city hall...
If they didn't show up, what happened? Did they miss the train? Did I give them bad directions? Did they get distracted?
How long should I wait for them? Should I wait for them at all? It wouldn't be cool for me to wait to long. Or should I shout out there name, so they know where I am?
I miss pre-cellphone problems.