I took a break from writing every day, and many folks have gone plain crazy. Been reading a few misconceptions about a variety of subjects. So after a long break, here I go. Oh, good to be back.

First point: The California High Speed Rail isn’t a commuter train for us to get to downtown Los Angeles. The nearest high-speed stations will be in Palmdale and Burbank. So please tell me why it is a good deal for the SCV? Let me see: It splits Acton and Agua Dulce in two and displaces homes, schools and churches from Acton through Sand Canyon. This is good? We don’t even get a station. This is just a case of getting screwed without getting kissed.

Second point: Chiquita Canyon Landfill is not our primary dump. Most of the trash from the SCV goes to other dumps like Sunshine Canyon and Palmdale. For the supporters of the Chiquita dump, please remember it is surrounded on three sides by homes and industry filled with office workers. There are a couple of schools nearby, and the future Castaic High School is not far from the dump. Now please tell me why it is such a good idea to expand that dump. Is it for more money so kids can breathe bad air in Val Verde when they play outside? Oh – it IS for more money for Waste Connections.

I really love Chiquita Canyon Landfill. I just haven’t figured how I can keep what morals I have and take money they would want to pay me to support them. My standards might not be the highest, but I can’t see lowering them so low in order to support the Chiquita dump. For those who do, I must ask: How is the view from the gutter?

Third point: This is good news. The yearly Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is starting in a week. Yes, it starts in downtown Newhall. Yes, you’ll still park at the mouth of Placerita Canyon and get bused to the festival. Just turn in on 13th Street over the tracks and follow the signs. Just like always. This leads to the…

Fourth point: The Cowboy Festival is not at Melody Ranch this year. Nope. It is in Old Town Newhall, William S. Hart Park and (my personal favorite) Heritage Junction in Hart Park. Lots of music and places to buy all manner of goods. There will be Civil War battles at Heritage Junction twice on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19. Drop by www.Cowboyfestival.org.

Now if any of y’all want to see the changes at Heritage Junction before the Cowboy Festival rides into town, I’ll welcome all y’all. Don’t be offended if I hand you a rake or hoe or trash bag or – just to have you help in our weed pulling extravaganza. Thinking of a contest to award prizes to the person who pulls the biggest weed at the junction.

We might have another contest. We want to name our streets. We were thinking to name them after local historical figures. I so want to name our trash bin area, “Chiquito Plaza.” Not “Chiquita,” because the dump is threatening some Val Verde folks with trademark infringement over a blog site. As I stated before, I cannot lower my standards far enough to be where the folks at Chiquita live.

I’ve missed writing for all y’all. Seems like some of my best subjects have up and left the SCV. Or at least are getting ready to leave.

For example, it isn’t fun to bash Congress without ol’ Howard “Take the Buck” McKeon around. And I’m sure that not having Cemex makes a lot of us happy – but what should I write?

Had a good laugh at the Arts and Entertainment gathering a couple of nights ago. One topic that came up was that we didn’t have a good way of getting the word out about arts and entertainment events. Well, sure enough, someone said, “We should have gotten those electronic billboards after all because they would be great to post information on.” I was floored and flabbergasted. The person who made the statement was at one time so anti-electronic billboards, she personally gathered hundreds of signatures for the petition to stop them.

I grinned and had a little chuckle.

Time to move on. Keep moving. Nothing to see here, folks. Please clear the pathway.

But she was right. We sure could use them now.

Don’t you just love that 20/20 hindsight?

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].