by Louise Crawford

Today my husband and I did something unspeakable. Strange. Outright disgusting.

We shopped at Wal-Mart.

That’s what happens when you spend a few weeks in the Central Valley of California. You lose all perspective. Things are just, well, different out here.

For the month of August, we’re staying on a farm on the outskirts of Tracy, a small city 80 miles east of the San Francisco. When I first visited here 18 years ago, it was a large town with a struggling downtown, a Heinz plant, a few strip malls and lots and lots of farms – some of the best farmland in the world.

But things have really changed. There are still many beautiful farms including the one my husband grew up on. But much of the town has been covered with subdivisions – gated communities with identical homes.  A few years back a big mall came to town with a Target, a Sears, a food court, Old Navy, JC Penny, Barnes and Noble and a multiplex.

Fortunately, our side of town isn’t full of subdivisions – and it’s still considered ‘out in the country.’ There are some warehouses here and there but it’s a rural area with ranchettes and family farms with gorgeous view of the foothills of the Sierras.

Big sky, majestic clouds, rows and rows of fruit trees: we’re about as far as you can get from Third Street in Brooklyn. And that’s part of the reason I love to be out here – on the farm that is. I can do without the malls and the subdivisions.

So today, my husband and I went for a drive. And I was driving – because that’s what I do when I’m here. I drive just like everybody else. And we just drove and drove and drove and took care of a few errands. Red fabric was one of the things on our shopping list and we weren’t having any luck finding a fabric store.

Someone at  Target said that they sell fabric at Wal-Mart. So that’s how it happened: we decided to give Wal-Mart a try. It was quite innocent, really.

The parking lot was packed: It’s where all the people in this town shop. The store itself is a mostly charmless warehouse full of everything you could ever or never need.

Car parts, furniture, frozen food, socks, appliances, bathing suits, lunchboxes, tires, pencils, Barbie Dolls and on and on. We did find some fabric for my daughter’s sewing project and some elastic. And we couldn’t resist…

I must say, for all the talk of underpaid employees, the sales people were friendlier and more helpful than any I’ve come across in a while. As we were leaving, a man stood at the door thanking us for being there.

Still, we got out of there good and fast – before we spent too much money on things we don’t really need. I felt none of the excitement I feel when I’m in Target, that high-design emporium of basically the same stuff – it’s just so much nicer there.

Well, it’s done. When we got back, my mother-in-law said we’d done something shameful. We put our heads down and felt, well, fine. Just fine. It was an adventure, like driving, that everyone needs to do every now and again. Nothing to feel too bad about unless you’re planning to make a habit of it….