Rural living creates long drives
It’s been a depressing week. Charlie Sheen got fired from
”
Two and a Half Men,
”
my dog got fleas, and gas prices accelerated in their climb up,
up and up.
It has been my goal, in recent years, to drive less. The irony
is that I keep driving more. And that means an awful lot of my
so-called discretionary income is going right into the tank.
And now, even more.
Rural living creates long drives
It’s been a depressing week. Charlie Sheen got fired from “Two and a Half Men,” my dog got fleas, and gas prices accelerated in their climb up, up and up.
It has been my goal, in recent years, to drive less. The irony is that I keep driving more. And that means an awful lot of my so-called discretionary income is going right into the tank.
And now, even more.
The funny thing about living in the country is that you end up driving pretty much all the time. When you move to a rural area, you have these lovely visions of sitting on the porch and watching the world go by.
Instead, you are in the car watching the scenery go by, as you drive to the store, to the shopping center, to work and to your children’s school. The car becomes your locker room, snack bar and home office.
The problem with rural areas is that, well, they’re rural. Beautiful, wonderful, bucolic, but rural. That means far away from stuff. Now Aromas is not so terrible — we do have two little grocery stores and a gas station, so that you can get the occasional quart of milk or what have you.
However, if you want to do any kind of major shopping, you must go elsewhere. There is no Costco or Wal-Mart in Aromas; neither is there a Target, a Home Depot or a Safeway. Not to mention all the other many stores that one tends to depend on for certain items.
Needless to say, I’m in my car. A lot. To the tune of about 25,000 miles a year, as I take my son to an out-of-district high school (28-mile round trip, since the bus doesn’t come anywhere near our house), go to the big grocery store that has everything I need (16-mile round trip) and this time of year, to the tax guy (20-mile round trip).
So as much as I enjoy my little country abode, there is a price to be paid. And now, in addition to time on the road and wear and tear on the vehicle, there now is a lot of extra money put into fuel.
In Aromas, our one gas station put up the numbers today: $3.99 for a gallon of regular.
It’s less other places, but let’s face it, not by much.
There’s no question that gas is already well over $4 a gallon in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our day is coming as well. I’m sure there are a few places in this area where the price has risen over that formerly unimaginable mark.
Even the cheap places are all around $3.80. By the time this column is printed, they’re probably all be over $4 a gallon.
Right now, living in a place where I can walk or ride my bike sounds awfully good.
Gas prices affect us all, whether we like it or not. That rise in oil prices is going to be reflected in how much it costs to buy a TV set or teriyaki sauce, because everything in the world these days is shipped from somewhere to somewhere.
And when you live a few miles from anywhere, then the costs really start to mount up.
But I can still dream about living in a place with sidewalks, where I can walk to the store and leave my car behind. Maybe, in this dream, I don’t even own a car.
Wow. Now that really would be a revolution.
