Oklahoma City: Sidewalks

I'm not sure if I can really be considered a bumpkin, but I have been awed by plenty of things that other people live with and take for granted on a daily basis. A good example of this is when Corrie and I descended in a plane into Ft. Lauderdale and I couldn't help but see large puddles of water on the rooftops of buildings. Puddles? When we got out of the plane and went to get our rental car, still more large puddles needed to be navigated around, and I couldn't shutup, "Look at all this water!" I kept saying, "Puddles!" and Corrie would nod and giggle and say Yes, dear, this is a humid place. It was late August, and anyone, like me, from Northern California would be taken aback by the sheer heat index (115 F in Sac, but dry as a bone; 85 F in Ft. Lauderdale, but around 80% humidity, which is remarkably worse feeling) and seeing green things and puddles of water. I'd tell people that in Sac in August it feels like the sun is leaning on your shoulders, but you could pour a gallon of water on the ground and it would disappear in thirty seconds, having evaporated. That shocks people from the humid zones of this country.

Another example of me being awed by things others take for granted: the lack of sidewalks on most of OKC's streets. I understand on highways, on long winding mountain roads, even in upstate NY, sidewalks are unnecessary. But in Oklahoma there are plenty of residential areas, with houses and houses, and then shops of one sort or another, and nary a sidewalk to be found. Most intersections didn't have crosswalks or even pedestrian walk/don't walk signs. It all struck me as really strange, and I wouldn't shutup about it.

One morning I woke up earlier than Corrie, and she asked me to see if there was anything to eat for breakfast, and after looking and finding el zilcho, I asked where the closest grocer was, was told "Just down the street, this side, past the light." I suppose that if I asked I would've been lent an automobile, but my license expired this April, and I'm coming from Brooklyn, and in the City, we walk. That's not trash-talking, just, in New York City, you WALK...even if it's to the bus, subway, or other random spot you found to park your car, you'll be doing plenty of walking. When I returned I was scolded by the sister of Peter's girlfriend for not asking for a ride "all the way down there," which was about as far as a walk from our Brooklyn apartment to the further of the two train lines, the J train, or about three-quarters of a mile. This walk was much more harrowing, along the side of the road, on people's lawns, on the beaten path a few yards from the street, cars zipping by at what seemed like ridiculous speeds.

In any case, here's a picture from the same street going in the opposite direction, and hopefully the worn path in the center is visible.