The old cowboy's world is changing. So is everyone else's. It's not like it was before.
After my first Yainapai book came out, readers told me about old bars and country restaurants they remembered. Iowa. Kentucky, where one remembered biscuits and warm chocolate pudding at a country bar. A corner bar in New York or Philly that's been there for years. Bars they go to now. Bars their dad went to.
My wife's 89-year-old stepmom says, "Bars are usually dark inside—the good ones are."
That's how she remembers them. Others remember country music, great food, old polished wooden tables and floors, or gathering to watch football. A bar you went to fifty years ago, and you still remember why.
I grew up in the country. Others grew up in cities. Different places, but the same kinds of memories. Family. Friends. Places that felt like home.
Now we build shopping centers that all look alike. A discount store. A pet store. A chain restaurant. No personality. We shop online instead. We shop for convenience. I do it too.
But convenience comes with a price. Warehouses. Delivery trucks. Distribution centers. Data centers supporting the technology we use. They all have to be built somewhere. And they can change a community forever.
Progress isn't necessarily bad. Those of us who have been around a while have seen plenty of good changes. New technology and development are part of our future. But shouldn't they fit the communities where they're built? Just because land is cheap and there's little resistance doesn't mean it's the right place.
That's part of the story in my second novel, Yainapai: The Valley Worth Saving (new release on Amazon). A small Arizona community discovers plans for a massive data center. Some welcome the possibilities. Others worry about what they'll lose.
Whether in the country or the city, we all have places that matter to us. The challenge is finding room for the new without losing everything that made the old worth remembering.
Ted, one of my characters, puts it simply. "If you don't make a decision, someone else will do it for you."
Frank Matteroli
Author of the Yainapai series
CountryHugsMusic.com