Good Friends and Small Towns

Hold your hands up and shout if you love city life! Yes, you there. I see you sitting in that dark room typing by the light of your monitor! Since you love the city life why don't I give you my e-mail address and you can write with out having to leave the comfort of the rat race. It is: watchout4drivebyes@duckyourhead.com .

Life is so quiet here in this small town. I love it! New things are almost always enjoyable. Peace and quiet. It's so nice that I'm looking forward to my mid-life crisis!

All joking aside ... Safford is a small town that is expected to grow rapidly over the next five years. The employment here is mostly through the Phelps Dodge mining company. A new mine has recently opened and has created more jobs recently. I suppose that that is good, but it is drawing new comers from out of town as well.

A very large Super WalMart was built here recently. Across the street a big Home Depot was also built about the same time. Both are thriving businesses and fun to roam through. Yet, they are icons here of an era changing. New people move in, build fancy, expensive homes and the ambiance of our little Thatcher and Safford converts to the hectic pace ot the city.

An official of the U.S.D.A. Housing Authority told me that it is predicted that in the next five years the average rent for an apartment will be more than six hundred dollars!

A new cardiac center was built on the hospital grounds recently. Now that is a really big necessity! While we have a majority of cotton farmers here and college students from E.A.C., there is a large number of elderly people and disabled individuals here that really need the care. It's these people who have lived the history of this county. They are the heart of Safford and Thatcher!

Good friends and small towns are what make me relax and live more peacefully. How nice it is to be wandering around a local store day dreaming only to hear your name called from further down the isle! It's a friend from my church or some one that I've gotten to know from another place. The hug is on and the handshakes are a part of sharing the joy that you can see in each other's eyes.

People walk down the sidewalks for exercise and they wave as they pass buy. It's getting dark and a knock comes from the front door. No worries about wierdos. It's the neighbor bringing a bag of tomatoes! When the darkness of night sets in we close our front doors and prepare to retire for the night. The family businesses have all closed and "rolled up the side walks." It's time to rest for an early day tomorrow.

This is my town, my life and my friends. I choose to live here and to be a living part of my church, New Life City, untill the Lord orders my last breath. New comers? Hey, family!!! This old Hick has a place for you!!! Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?