It's actually gotten pretty cold lately. Bear in mind this is to Clovis standards. To the rest of the world, it's still pretty warm. According to Google it's 44 here in Clovis (and 29 in Clovis, New Mexico) currently. See? Even compared to Clovis, Clovis is pretty warm. I wonder if Clovis New Mexico has a DeVry in the vicinity. It would be awesome to move to another Clovis to finish off my degree.

I hurt my back pretty good yesterday. Because of that I had to miss out on going to the gym today. I'm glad it's healing up rather quickly. If it weren't for my cat-like reflexes, it would've been much worse. Thank you, God.

Best part of the year

Rain at last. And fog. And clouds. This is my favorite part of the year. It won't last long; it'll soon be hot again. But for the time being I intend to enjoy it as much as possible.

Wish my knee wasn't injured. It'll be better soon, though. Hope it's in time to go for a run in the rain.

No, it's cool. I didn't forget about this blog. I just misplaced... my memory... for a little bit.

I was about to hit the sack when I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be updating this every day. I've been busy lately... school, gym, school... Still haven't gone out to take pictures. Once I'm finally free it's dark, and I don't have that great of a camera. Unfortunately, no one's made an (affordable) camera that is nearly as sensitive as the human eye. That would be a nice camera.

Sunday

Got another post with no content for ya.

Sundays are generally pretty slow. Usually, I use 'em to get caught up on homework and whatnot, but I'm actually all caught up. For the most part, anyway. So, I didn't really do anything today except go to the gym.

It's gettin' pretty cold here in Clovis. Well, for Clovis anyway. It doesn't get too cold around these parts. Get's hot though. So very hot. It's just past 10 PM and it's 48F out there. Still warm enough for shorts.

I'm dreamin' of a white Christmas. But it'll probably be 95.

Developmental Downfall

Yesterday was kind of a rough day. Virtually everything that could've gone wrong went wrong, but I managed to keep a positive attitude. It was just one of those days.

Once I finally arrived home I decided to go to the gym. Since my truck was malfunctioning, I opted instead to walk. It was about 2030, and already dark.

It's a route I take quite often. Down the canal, across the street, and straight to the gym. The canal has very few lights, and the park that it passes near was already dark. It wasn't easy to see, but I know this route fairly well. As is normal when walking in the dark, my focus was down at the ground before me. Unconsciously watching for obstacles in the darkness I stepped into the second leg of the trip. A couple of minutes in all seemed normal, save for some new graffiti on the fence, but all at once I noticed something strange. Ahead of me I noticed an unfamiliar silhouette sticking out from the bank of the canal. It was angular, and about the size of a refrigerator. In the mostly natural environment is stuck out as odd. Then I realized something. Wasn't there supposed to be a tree there?

That tree had been there for years. I remember it from my childhood; a beautiful tree with a large trunk and wide leaves that hung down almost all the way to the ground. Walking that part of the canal it formed an almost cave-like appearance, and really added to the scenery. I reached the tree and noticed on closer inspection that it had been cut, hence the unnatural angles. It hadn't fallen on it's own. Standing in the dark I put one hand on the stump, and the other on my heart, telling the old tree that if would surely be missed. And then, I looked up.

It wasn't the only victim. Looking on, a series of short stumps were silhouetted in the darkness. Not one tree had been cut. All the trees had been cut. Every single one... gone. I felt a deep sadness.

These trees were beautiful. They were sources of shade and homes to life, and they really gave the canal a natural look. Even though one side had a dog pound, and the other an apartment complex, those old and lush trees masked the canal from the developed world. I remember those trees from my childhood... they were almost like friends to me. Walking down the canal, there were always people lounging about under their shade on the warm days, most of the time drinking beer and being noisy. But regardless of whatever the people were doing, it was easy for me to imagine a simpler time, where people would sit barefooted by the creek and fish, or just admire the scenery. I could imagine myself on some great exploration through the back country, and fantasize about meeting all kinds of interesting people, and living all kinds of wonderful adventures. But now...

Now it's just a cruddy canal in the middle of a half assed development. Trash, graffiti, decay... that's all that remains. To top things off the water has been cut off for the time being, and the canal is mostly dry. Instead of the flowing current all that can be seen is old shopping carts, tires and garbage. I feel like I've been robbed of something I didn't even know I had.

Like so much of this town, the half-way development leaves us somewhere between industrial and natural. And anything pleasant is systematically stripped away. Why? Why does it have to be like this? What is the point of developing every section of land? What do we gain? At what cost? Sigh.

Ahh, Nozomi... I think I know how you feel.

In other news... evidently my gym is run by the Polish Brethren.

Another busy day...

So busy,in fact, that I couldn't even finish my homework. Actually, that's not entirely true. I tried to do my homework, but I couldn't figure it out. The instructions I had were insufficient and, well, I give up. I'll have to be on my guard for the rest of the session.

No pictures again. I'm useless when it comes to blogs. I want to take pictures of my walking route and the nearby park I hang out at sometimes. That watertower in the banner is in said park, actually. I know Clovis doesn't have much to offer, but I wanna share it with people anyway. It's all I can do.

Tuesday

I neglected to post the other night. It totally slipped my mind. It's hard to keep this up every day, especially when there is no content! I haven't taken any pictures... I haven't even really left home except for school. And my truck is sad. I need to make it happy again with some tools and time.

Hope I can make it to school tomorrow.

Day... something

I've lost count already. And I almost forgot to update this. As you can see, it's almost 3 in the morning, and I should probably be asleep. But I'm not. Cause I don't wanna.

No pictures again. School is dominating my time. The Critical Thinking class being the heaviest load. Who woulda thought the class that I spend the less time in would be the more demanding? Usually that's not the case. Or maybe it is. I dunno.

Nothing really to say tonight. Just updating because I have to. Every. Single. Day.

Meet me at the River!

All I had to do was send that in a text message, and they would come. Sweet River is a pretty cool place to eat. One of those places with crap all over the walls, it's a cozy and casual atmosphere with decent food and a decent price.

Unfortunately, we rarely go there anymore. I fear that since Munch will be leaving I will visit that establishment even less than before. He was always down for some Sweet River. And more importantly, he always had money.

I managed to get a quick snapshot of the place with my phone. The lighting sucks, I know, but what do you want from a phone? This is actually pretty decent considering it was night.

It's a great place to discuss ideas. Especially over by the bar, there are large booths and large windows for a natural feel. They serve Pepsi, which is always welcome.

If you're in Clovis look 'em up.

Quick Update

It's pretty late, but I have to post in this every day. Today was another non-stop day, but this time it went later than usual. A heartfelt goodbye was said to a close friend who is leaving for a long time. Maybe he'll never really come back. The end of an era, my life changes.

I did take a pic of one of my favorite hangouts, but posting will have to wait. Sleep must happen.

I hate Fresno...

... but Clovis is alright. And that will be the topic of todays NOT A LOT IN CLOVIS

**Opening title sequence to some song by Orange Range for some reason**

Ahem.

Anyway. It's that time again. Yep, you guessed it. 0130 in the morning! I didn't plan this. Really, I didn't. It's just that 1AM has just become the new writing time, replacing the vastly different 2AM it used to be. Honestly, I really need to work on the stories. School has pretty much destroyed that hobby (among others).

So, the topic today is the distinction between Fresno and Clovis. The two are very close. In fact, one could easily waltz into one or the other and not know the difference. In fact, I don't even know where the borders are. The towns are that tightly knit. But Fresno and Clovis are quite different. Some say it's the economy. Supposedly, rich people live in Clovis. However, this is a fallacy. I know of many very wealthy people who live in Fresno. True, Clovis does have it's fair share, but just take a drive to the North West areas in Fresno and you will behold some beautiful neighborhoods, with houses so large one could seemingly fit the entire population of Pinedale within.

I guess the difference in the towns is the atmosphere. Clovis is more toward the less developed areas. Indeed, Clovis is where most of the new development is happening. It has room to grow, whereas Fresno has mostly filled up it's alloted space. Now it's just becoming increasingly cluttered. Clovis continues to expand toward the hills, displacing a lot of farm country as it goes. This is rather unfortunate, because the countryside of Clovis is dwindling. Giving way to more and more houses as more and more people from the larger areas flood in. With the promise of cheaper housing, the influx of people over the last ten years has changed the landscape of this town forever, and any promise of cheap anything has been pushed out as they forced themselves in. In time, Fresno county will be another LA.

But for the time being, Clovis still clings to that 'small town' feeling, even if it's really not true anymore. Driving only 5 minutes and you could be in the countryside, where there is nothing but orange orchards everywhere. There are a lot of wetlands out there too, which is what I'm told the valley once was. Flat areas with tall grass that gets flooded anytime it rains. And just a little further are the hills, with small winding roads and beautiful scenery. Why anyone would want to destroy that for cheap housing is beyond me, but I think the human race needs to CALM THE EFF DOWN with the breeding. Earth is an enclosed, and finite space. We are trying our damnedest to fill every corner with redundant, standardized humans. How boring.

But that's neither here nor there. Not here at the very least. Recovering from the tangent...

Clovis is nice. Especially at night. Unfortunately, I can't take pictures at night because I don't have the means. Anything I do with my budget cameras will come out pretty, well, black. I have experimented with doing long exposures in the past, and have some up with some pretty neat (if haphazard) pics. I'll track one or two down and post them at some point. But at night it's totally quiet, and utterly deserted around here. Well, that's not entirely true. You get one or two cars every now and again, and the occasional loud person, but for the most part it's quiet. That's probably why I am usually up when no one else is, and asleep when everyone else is up. I like quiet. I like peaceful. I like darkness. I adore the moon more than anything else.

At least here in Clovis we get some measure of that. In Fresno, you can gaze at the moon, but most likely if you look at it too long someone will try and take your wallet.

That's it for now. No pics again since I haven't had time to get out and take some during daylight hours. Earlier nights are making that difficult.

Day 2

Actually, it's past day 2. Although to me it's the same. It's just past 1 AM and I am finally able to get to this. (Actually, after looking at the first post I realize it was at pretty much the same time. What, is 1 AM writing time now? I thought that was supposed to happen at 2 AM...)

I had intended to take some pics today, but there was no time. I did, however, add the header picture. It's a pretty hackneyed crop job, and I'm sure any half-way decent web designer would laugh at my methods, but hey. It looks cool.

The pic is one I took with my phone while on a walk. The water tower that is visible is the one at Letterman Park, on Villa avenue near Bullard in Clovis. I walk that canal frequently, and while it's pretty cruddy, on a clear night with a full moon it's breathtakingly beautiful. And despite being pretty much in the middle of the residential area in the town, it's pretty quiet. Where I was standing while taking the picture there was an apartment complex to my right, and a trailer park to my left. But even so, it's usually vacant and is a nice place to go to think.

I need to get some more pictures of the route I usually take. It's a pretty nice walk.

Until tomorrow. Or maybe later today.

First attack

So, here's the deal.

My name is Luke, and I've been living in Clovis for about 22 years (save for a short break or two). If you don't know, Clovis is a small suburb of Fresno, California. Still don't know? Fresno is the middle point between Los Angeles and Sacramento. Really? Still can't find it? Well, it's a growing city, and sooner or later you'll hear of it. And not just in jokes.

Lately, I've been thinking I should post a blog for my friends who aren't from around here to read. Online friends, people I've met when out of town, etc etc. When I tell them I live in Clovis, they usually give me the fish hook in the eyebrow look. When I tell them it's a suburb of Fresno, they immediately assume it's farm country. Which it kind of is, I guess.

Well, I don't really have a lot of pride in this place, but at the same time it kind of irks me that they think there's nothing here. Even if, to be honest, it's the truth. Hence the name of this blog.

The second reason for making this is probably the more important of the two. It's, well, a school assignment. Okay, not really. The assignment is to simply write in a journal. To write all 7 days of the week. This isn't hard for me. I write even if no one tells me to. But I am a little lazy, and I figured if I put the blog idea and my assignment together, it might actually go somewhere. So here's hoping.

That's my writing assignment for today. Tomorrow I'll post my first entry in the "Not a lot in Clovis" blog project. Time to dust off the ol' digicam.