Good news for Maricopa: we now boast the “worst particulate readings” in the nation’s air-quality meters. That really stinks. Especially when the wind blows.
I grew up ½ mile south of a dairy in Idaho that contained what like 30 cows in its “hayday.” I grew up on the byproducts of this farm, unpasteurized milk that had to be skimmed before drinking. My mom paid for it by exchanging Avon products with the owners
The dairies here are nothing like that one. Millions of Holsteins mooing and pooing for miles off the Maricopa/Casa Grande highway are definitely an assault to the senses. Once, after being here just a few months, I happened to drive past with friends on a stale, foggy night. But it wasn’t fog. It was stench, a blue nauseating cloud that forced you to breathe into your shirt or just forget breathing for a few miles. It’s not usually that bad. It all depends on which direction the wind is blowing. But you know how you can’t smell what your own house smells like until right when you walk into it after being gone for a while? Maricopa has a cow smell (most obvious at the first light as you enter town).
It’s one of the crosses we bear as residents of our quirky city. I didn’t realize cowstench was in the fine print of the contracts I signed when buying our home. But, gratefully, there were other items in the fine print I didn’t expect either: friendly, generous neighbors, surrounding families with lots of kids to play with, a great spiritual support system at church (maybe I expected that one), a new school within walking distance. Sometimes I just have to keep rehearsing these good things in my mind when things really seem to stink out here.
I grew up ½ mile south of a dairy in Idaho that contained what like 30 cows in its “hayday.” I grew up on the byproducts of this farm, unpasteurized milk that had to be skimmed before drinking. My mom paid for it by exchanging Avon products with the owners
The dairies here are nothing like that one. Millions of Holsteins mooing and pooing for miles off the Maricopa/Casa Grande highway are definitely an assault to the senses. Once, after being here just a few months, I happened to drive past with friends on a stale, foggy night. But it wasn’t fog. It was stench, a blue nauseating cloud that forced you to breathe into your shirt or just forget breathing for a few miles. It’s not usually that bad. It all depends on which direction the wind is blowing. But you know how you can’t smell what your own house smells like until right when you walk into it after being gone for a while? Maricopa has a cow smell (most obvious at the first light as you enter town).
It’s one of the crosses we bear as residents of our quirky city. I didn’t realize cowstench was in the fine print of the contracts I signed when buying our home. But, gratefully, there were other items in the fine print I didn’t expect either: friendly, generous neighbors, surrounding families with lots of kids to play with, a great spiritual support system at church (maybe I expected that one), a new school within walking distance. Sometimes I just have to keep rehearsing these good things in my mind when things really seem to stink out here.
Things are looking up for Cowtown though. This last May there were only nine air-quality violations vs. 73 last year (the EPA allows one per year.) That's a sniff in the right direction.
5 comments:
Guess deep breaths in and out when we are frustrated isn't the best idea here.
I'd think you would feel right at home, being an Idaho girl and all! I am suprised that cows can make it in that heat though. Poor, poor cows. I always think they look so sad. I mean, who would want to have such a bad reputation for being stinky, spend their life being milked, and end up on someone's barbecue grill. What a bummer of a life. Cut the cows some slack!
I had to laugh at the memory of you, me, and Monica driving home through that "fog". My stomach churns at the memory!
When I first saw this post, I kinda hoped you were coming back to Idaho! If this aint 'cowtown' I don't know what is!
Wow, your desert town seems too hot for cows. What a sweaty stinky mess. I too live in a cowbelt, and can absolutely relate. At least being so far from your hometown, maybe it's a whiff of home once in a while?
Post a Comment