I am beginning this blog to post short stories written about life in the Antelope Valley of California.  The Valley is located in the high desert area of the great Mojave.  The towns and areas are fifty miles or so from the Los Angeles basin--yes that megalopolis including Hollywood, Rose Bowl, South Central, Disney Land, and Staples Center.  

When I arrived in the Antelope Valley in the late seventies the  area was just beginning to build housing tracts that would eventually house all the seekers of the American Dream--a new affordable house.  the length of the commute to the Los Angeles area was not a factor.  They owned a home and that was the dream come true.  

Locals of the high desert referred to the Los Angeles area as "down-below" because it was south of the Valley and about a 3500 foot drop in elevation.  One major thoroughfare, State Highway 14, a two lane road with twists and turns and several roller-coaster hills is the major highway in and out of the Valley.  On a good day it brings one down-below in about 45 minutes.

In those halcyon days of suburban growth commuter traffic was not the nightmare that is now. According to traffic reports stop and go can begin all the way back to Avenue S, a main road at the south end of the Valley.  There are other alternative routes that are clogged with the smartest commuters.

The two principle towns are Palmdale at the south end and Lancaster a few miles to the north.  These are the two municipalities building housing tracks that have expanded the two cities into one large bedroom community.

Located at the south end of the valley are small burgs laying at the base of the great mountain range dividing the high desert from the Los Angeles basin.  The urban spread has avoided these small towns because they are not conveniently  located to the main arteries connecting the Valley to the metropolitan areas to the south.

My stories are fictional based on events and people who live in the Valley, usually in the small burgs at the base of the mountains.  

One of the many characters of the stories is Tony.  He has a twin brother Father Tim.  Father Tim is a monk at an abbey snuggled in a bucolic valley among the foothills.  Tony lives in the adjoining town and is a retired secular employee of the Abbey.

Watch for my posts and stories.  Enjoy...