Roads and Rain II

On the other hand, the vast spaces of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico didn't translate into the big homesteads you might expect. In Lubbock, a city of 200,000, houses (even the mini-mansions) were huddled together, barely 10 feet apart in many cases. The problem--water. Even in the semi-arid conditions, many folks insisted on having golf-course type lawns, lawns requiring constant--and costly--watering. It was wasteful and in many ways unnatural to see such verdant green in an area that got about 20 inches of rain a year, tops, usually in a handful of big showers. It also seemed ridiculous to see 5000 sq. ft. houses on tiny plots of land. All in an area surrounded by farmland that in many cases could be bought for a few thousand dollars an acre.

I will say this though--the roads were indeed wider and the parking spaces bigger. Perfect for your truck. And yes, I have one. When we arrived, we owned two Honda hatchbacks. But by law, if you don't own a truck in Texas, you must buy one. (It's just like that old Seinfeld joke about retirees and Florida.) It's now 10 years old and I still love it, hail dents and all.

Naturally, when we moved to New England, we bought a Subaru. Because there's probably nothing as SFNE as a Subaru, don't you think? God help you if you lose your car in a parking lot. If you can't tell one navy blue Subaru from another, consider yourself SOL. I've started distinguishing them by the sideview mirrors. The pre-2002 models are much smaller than the current ones.