Life in Portales calming and familiar

I’ve done both — I’ve experienced urban and rural living. I grew up in a small town. I’ve lived on a military base. I’ve lived in New Mexico’s largest city, as well as other states. Right now, I live in Portales.

There are things you miss out on when you live in a town you didn’t grow up in. I don’t get to be a member of the “Remember when” crowd. You know all those stories shared between people who have a history together, they can bring up one event or place and no explanation is necessary.

When you’re new, you feel like a visitor for a while. I remember going to the grocery store shortly after moving here and feeling as though it wasn’t “my store.” Eventually you cross that threshold where you no longer identify as a transplant, you identify as a local. I’m not sure how or when that happens, but I do remember the day I no longer felt like the new person in town.

Living in eastern New Mexico has changed me. I have my own collection of ball caps. I never wore hats before but quickly learned the wind’s ability to blind me using my own hair. I have a few left-handed work gloves that don’t get used, and right-handed gloves I can’t find. Afternoons spent watching my daughter with her horses has a calming effect on me I don’t get anywhere else.

Last year I made a tough decision. Caught between family and being pulled in two directions for help, I decided to move. My decision was short lived as the reasons I live here began to rise to the surface. Ranging from serious concerns such as personal safety, to reasons that are more lighthearted, my list of “pros” resembled the following:

• The quick commute anywhere you go. Not having to maneuver busy intersections and packed parking lots.

• The familiarity and rapport with local business owners.

• Solitude when I need it.

• Being waved at by truck owners when I’m driving my Dodge Ram, the same with Jeep owners when I’m driving my Jeep.

• Seeing someone I know every time I go to the post office or grocery store.

There’s a story I routinely share about taking my daughter to the Roosevelt General Hospital clinic right after we moved here. An older gentleman in the parking lot was rushing to walk ahead of us. I figured he was trying to beat us to the check-in line. His limp made his fast pace seem unnatural. What a surprise to learn his accelerated stride was all so he could open the door for us.

Cities that have ballparks or other attractions are fun for a moment, but those places are not where I choose to live. Don’t get me wrong, I do love to travel and have an extensive wish list of destinations. However, my experience living in more urban areas has taught me this one truth – the more we’re given to look at, the less we look at each other.

Portales’ Tina Dziuk can be contacted at:

[email protected]