20160310 (US 422)

Took a trip to Warren today.

I was so indisposed to take the

Standard route I used for visiting

My sister and her family in Berlin 

Center, but having neither GPS

Nor maps at hand, I got on 422 for

The direct non-turnpike way. The

Address I was to visit was on 422—

How could I miss? I had heard high flying 

Political insiders had determined

The extension of the 422-spur

Off 271 and 480 as a note of

Thanks to the wealthy of the 

Adjoining communities for their

Years of unwavering campaign

Support. Could very well be. A 

Glance at the map shows 480 

Extends east just a smidge further 

South and runs almost parallel

For a good section. Convenience

For the rich? Yeah, I’ve heard of

That. So I took 422 this time past

Harper/Cochran where you turn

Off to buy the Stouffer mis-cooks

For cheap, past 91 which could

Have taken me to WASPy Hudson,

And kept barreling down the fairly

Smooth highway toward my goal.

Along that pristine stretch, behind 

The strip of forest that borders the 

Road lay McMansions on two-acre 

Lots on curving lanes, no two 

Houses of which were aligned 

Like the homes of the middlers

In regulated setbacks on a

Rigidly rectangular gridwork

That cries out, “Urban here!”

I thought about the trees as I drove

Along, “Could these trees be on 

Ground undisturbed since days 

Before Columbus?” Probably not.

I remembered traveling with my 

Father in the vicinity as a munchkin,

Watching the farms being carved up

As subdivisions for pricey homes.

“Pops, would we ever live here?”

I piped. “I’d have to win a week’s

Worth of trifectas to buy a house 

Here,” he sighed (these were in days

Before the lottery). Pretty soon the

Strip forests became considerably

Deeper and the houses correspondingly

More lavish, I speculated, as one

Could no longer see them from the

Road. As 422 narrowed to two 

Lanes, the houses were now of

Historical interest, a spectrum of

Large and small, early and late,

Crumbling and kept, worthless

And priceless as I got closer to

The city. First, the burgeoning

Suburban commercial and new

Industrial sections, then some

Older middle class residential,

And finally a pocket of falling

Down urban decrepit and boarded

Oldest homes in an apparently

Minority dominated neighborhood.

Warren’s downtown as I approached

Followed the universal rust belt 

Pattern--city blocks cleared of 

Dumps in foreclosure, maybe one

City-scape structure adorning the

Center-side corner, a few governmental

Buildings left over from the ‘30s WPA,

and several old cathedrals. I parked 

And did what I needed to do but

Stopped at a fast food place for 

Lunch. I sat down opposite a

Large flat screen TV airing some

Variant of The View, which was 

Called The Talk—six women, 

One the ostensible host, convener, 

Questioneer, and five others of 

Whom I recognized only Sharon 

Osbourne, two white ladies, two 

Black, of whom one was as 

Cartoonishly talkative as she 

Was ponderous. Stereotype? The 

Talk of The Talk was did Kim 

Kardashian put her nude selfies

On Twitter to boost the fortunes

Of Kanye? An older woman who, 

Was cleaning the place, busily

and bent over, perhaps to supplement

Her Social Security, moved past

Me, and mouthed with a sneer,

“Stupid billionaires! Who cares?”

I agreed wholeheartedly, gave

Her a card for my blog. She said

She'd look me up. I thanked her

And returned home.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016