When I graduated college and told people I was moving to Auburn, a lot of people looked confused and said, “So, you’re moving home?” No, I explained…AuBURN, not AuBERRY. Keep it straight.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Home Away from Home
But when I first moved here, I did see that the two towns really are similar, in more than name. Auburn has the same foothill landscapes covered with oak trees and cottonwoods, popcorn flowers and poppies, manzanita and miner’s lettuce (they eat it here too). Even the stickers and weeds are the same. It’s close to the snowline and pine forests and the high sierra mountains. The main sources of recreation during the winter months are the ski resorts, and the nearby lakes and rivers are the hotspots during summer. People drive around in beat-up pickups and have woodstoves and horses and go frog hunting.
I’ve discovered more similarities the longer I’ve lived here. I was surprised to find that the first three digits of most of the local landlines are 885. I kept messing up dialing people because I would automatically dial 855. The area code is 95602, which is just one digit off 93602. The more I drive around, the more things I see that remind me of home. There’s a Pizza Factory and a Sierra Elementary and a Sierra College. When I first passed the sign for Table Meadow, I thought said Table Mountain. I’ve passed Dry Creek Rd, Oakhurst Dr, Shaver Rd, Awahnee Way, Pine Ridge Ln, and Millertown Rd. There’s even a Blue Heron Ct.
Auburn and Auberry do have a lot of differences, obviously. And you could probably find similarities like these between any two towns if you tried hard enough...but it is weird to live in a town that looks like, feels like, and is named like the town you grew up in.
That's all. Also, I drove past this the other day:
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nice! each of those things brought a memory..
ReplyDeleteyou should see if you can get sean penn to steal it for you.
ReplyDeleteOoh, good idea, Carrie. Then we'd have a matching pair!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just drove past a Powerhouse Rd.