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As I drive around this town I have lived in for a very long time, I marvel at the changes. The tall buildings where once you were not allowed to go above two stories. The open expanses of desert that are now hotels or condos. The obstructed views of mountains. It is easy to lament the changes, but there is no value in them as change is inevitable.

If I am honest, which I attempt to be more often than not, I did not appreciate or celebrate the quiet town it once was in my childhood. It was boring in my mind. There was nothing to do and it shut down for four to five months a year. I wanted out and to return to the “big cities” where we had lived before coming to this deserted place.

I did return to the Bay Area several times after college only to be sent back to this brown patch of land. In my early 30s I decided I had karma to pay off in this state, so I should resign myself to my fate.

The change and growth have been mostly beneficial. The restaurants are more diverse, and I can finally get decent dim sum and noodles here. The airport offers several non-stop choices to the world beyond our shores which satiates my wanderlust. Five to seven months out of the year the weather is perfect and sunshine abounds.

It is an easy place to live. Shopping and parking are abundant and the views over and around the buildings can still be breathtaking. It is comfortable and familiar. There is something about still living in the place you learned how to drive that gives one an edge over the freeways and “newcomers” who do not know the shortcuts.

The part for which I am the most grateful is my ability to time travel every time I drive. What used to be there or how it once looked. The replay of wonderful times with people now gone and places now demolished. The joy of knowing I was lucky enough to be relegated to this place and given the luxury of time to appreciate all of its wonder.