I hail from a fair city right next to the San Fernando Valley called Simi Valley. Like most relationships with the town you grew up in and no longer inhabitate, I both love it and despise it. It's suburbia to a tee and everything that Portland is not, right down to its "downtown" that consists of a barrage of stores ranging from Ross to Target to , but it's my suburbia and don't nobody disses on my digs, yo. So on a recent trip down to Simi, I spotted this newspaper stand and just had to take a picture with my Simi partner in crime, Kimberly. Perhaps it is an inside joke, but everyone gets it inside of his/her heart because hometowns have that quiet allure that is both hypnotic and retch inducing. You crave the comfort of knowing the best way to get to the Blockbuster video and who will serve you at the local Denny's you ALWAYS went to in high school, but when you're there you cannot wait to get back to "civilization" aka your super sophisticated adult life. I'm guilty as charged.
But Simi does have beauty in its hills, hiking trails, [some] open spaces and laid back attitude. There are still some independently owned stores and restaurants, especially those that my parents still frequent (although the opening of the new Town Center has thrown the 'rents into a whole new world of chain excitement!). However, one store that was a fundamental part of my childhood closed its doors forever and I had to find out the hard way - an apologetic sign on the door. Tragic huh? Read on....
So Jason, Kimberly and I were walking in our shiny "downtown" (and this so-called walking was an anomaly to people in Simi because we were, wait for it, walking across the busy streets!) and we were eagerly awaiting the lunch hour because K and I had been talking up Hudson's Grill to J for ages, reminiscing about its many wonders, good food and happy memories. As we were walking up to Hudson's, the parking lot looks a little scarce but I shrug it off to, maybe they're just not open yet. Or ever again.....as the simple sign would tell us because they decided to shut their doors after 20 years of great service! We almost pass out with disbelief and ache to break down the door and put our quarters in the jukebox just to hear it play "Pretty Woman" one last time. And order a milkshake that would come with extra in the metal cup.......which was like Christmas Day when I was a kid (and damn straight I slurped up every last bit).
Dejected, we walk aimlessly in the store area trying desperately to 1) find a place to eat because we were hungry and 2) ponder the destruction of our civilization especially of those places that provide you with the comfort you crave from your hometown. Dramatic, yes, but very necessary.