Porthole

Comparisons: here and there, then and now.

PROMPT March 29th

What did you like / dislike about where you grew up?
What do you like / dislike about where you live now?

My high school colors were maroon and white.
University colors here are maroon and silver.

Growing up I had nothing to compare. I'd been nowhere. I had yet to learn that there were friendlier and not-so-friendly people elsewhere. There were 4 wet seasons, local festivals, local foods, sport teams, deep bitter divides that people only overcame when there was a blizzard. Growing up the sky was a dull shade of coal.

Here the sky turns to ash during Smoke Season. There are few visible divides as people hide them. They are friendly in a keep-your-distance kinda way. There are 4 dry seasons, no weather to speak of. Local festivals and sport teams abound as do local markets for mushrooms, flowers and huckleberries. There's a vibrant art scene.

I felt sad when I left home but felt free from the bullying and treachery. Here I have felt free but people are becoming more judgmental, the place is gentrifying and poor people are being pushed out in ways reminding me of Boulder. I deeply disliked Boulder when I visited.

Nowhere is perfect; but, the inequities, then and now, here and there, are very American. I now compare. I've lived elsewhere and traveled extensively. When I tell Americans that they live in a dangerous third world country they take offense. I don't care. Most've been nowhere, just like I had been nowhere growing up.