I frequently travel the breadth of Santa Barbara County on highway 166, from the Santa Maria Valley to the Cuyama Valley, and I am always struck by the immense diversity of this road trip and the beauty that makes our county what it is, a wonderful place to live, from the rolling, sometimes green or golden hills of the Santa Maria Valley with miles of sandy beaches and crashing waves, through the stunning beauty of eons gone by of the geologic uplifts of the coast range, to the stark desolation and beauty of the Caliente Range that rings the high desert plateau which is the Cuyama Valley, all in relative pristine condition.
Unfortunately, this trip also brings to mind the endless whining and verbal hammering of extremist groups this past year who constantly complain about all government regulations, as well as all federal, state, and county government actions. The key word here is “all” government regulation and action. Can you really imagine our county and country if they had their way and we had no government action or regulation?
For me, this question brings to mind another, much longer trip my wife and I took in the 1980s to Mexico. We were young, busy with our jobs, and eager for a short respite, so we booked an Easter deal to Mazatlan for a week. When the taxi dropped us off in front of the luxury hotel on the beach, we immediately noticed an odor that came from the vacant lot next to the hotel. It was raw sewage that was being dumped at that location to eventually make its way to the ocean. How quaint!
Looking back on it all now, how wise my beautiful wife was to pick up medication from our doctor prior to the trip to prevent illness. Bless her! After some wait in the lobby, we finally arrived at our room. She was planning a shower, and I threw the covers back to stretch out on the bed for a brief rest, but wait—what was all the beach sand in our bed? After a few brief vulgarities aimed at our travel agent, I cleaned the sand out, gritted my teeth, and tried to doze off. I was awakened by the scream of my wife from the bathroom. Bursting through the door thinking we had been raided by Mexican bandits, I found to my disgusting relief that the shower was oozing sometimes brown and sometimes other colors of water. I guess we just expected too much coming from America?
About our third day on the beach in front of the hotel, we noticed that the beach was devoid of many other hotel guests. They were all ill and had stayed in their hotel rooms. Apparently, they did not have a wife to pick up medication! It was at this time that I noticed the small Mexican vendor with his colorful major brand “Cola” umbrella and cooler. Up until this day, we had always gotten service on the beach from the hotel, but we were in Mexico, so why not buy from a local? It was an international brand from an official bottling plant, right? After a stroll across the beach, I returned with two large bottles of cola and handed one to my wife. I plunked down on the sand and had the bottle tilted to the sun when that now familiar screech from my beloved wife saved me. We later found that the mass of floating debris at the bottom was in the bottom because the vendor collected bottles on the beach then refilled and capped them under his colorful umbrella. Regulate, sanitize, and inspect! Oh, you pesky Americans!
But the highlight of our trip was the tour to the red clay brick quarry which took us up into the mountains. We quickly noticed that the land around us looked as if an atomic bomb had exploded and erosion had done the rest. No vegetation existed. Our driver and tour guide explained that we were traveling through the national forest that was for all Mexicans. To the poor, it means “slash and burn agriculture.” Each year they burn off a new patch, plant corn for one year, and move on leaving devastation in the wake. Unlike our country, they actually believe they can use the national lands.
Since this trip, we have always vacationed elsewhere in the world, but if anyone tries to convince you of the need to rid us of some regulation, please stop and try to visualize 1980 Mazatlan and just say no. I am a lifetime firm believer in reasonable regulation. In a complex, highly compact society, it is important for public safety, the environment, and at times just plain basic public sanitation!
Ken McCalip is a North Santa Barbara County native who holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. He can be reached at foxmt.one@verizon.net. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2011.