Every once in a while I hear or see an advertisement that makes me wonder just how dumb some folks think we are in this country.

There is a teeth whitening commercial that promises to get your teeth at least two shades whiter in a day and seven shades in a week. So here is my question: How much is a shade? I didn’t know a shade was a unit of measurement in any way. I thought it was something quite different.

I still laugh when I see the term, “free gift.” Have you ever received a gift and had to pay for it? Wasn’t it already free? Gosh, it seems so … well …redundant.

Now I’m hearing some folks who arrived in the SCV in 1980 complain about the “sprawl.” Homes built every place there used to be a blank space on the map.

Well, I’ve got some news for you who are complaining about that “sprawl.” Those of us who have been around this valley since we were born have a few remarks about your concept of “sprawl.”

I was born in 1950 and well remember how far outside of town that housing tract on San Francisquito Road seemed to be. It had all those Spanish names for streets too like Los Rogues and Guadilamar, Decoro and the like. Nothing else around it, but there it was. The “sprawl” has even changed the name of the road to Seco Canyon.

I remember racing my horse over the fields west of Placerita Junior High and Highway 99. Since that “sprawl,” I couldn’t do that today.

I look at the OC and at that lesser valley to our south and wonder about the use of the term, “sprawl,” as it pertains to us here. Sure doesn’t look like the SFV or Orange County. We’ve nearly circled our valley with open spaces and trails. Sprawl will have to stop there if we have any sprawl at all.

I’d complain about it if it would do any good. I’m much more enthused about making sure the new tracts and such have gently curving streets and trees and decent landscaping that is drought tolerant.

People have to live someplace, and I just can’t think of a better place for anyone to live. I’m not an old-timer who laments the loss of our open fields of onions and the stockyards where Magic Mountain sits today. Imagine being stuck on Lyons in traffic when those odors wafted through your car. The term is, “intense.”

There are traffic problems. How about those intersections where pedestrians are timed to walk when the folks turning have to wait on them? Can we say Railroad and Market Street? Can we say that most of us who drive through there wonder why there isn’t a separate time when all vehicles stop as pedestrians walk? That way, folks turning onto Railroad from Market wouldn’t have to wait three or four light cycles to turn.

As we learn about traffic circles or roundabouts, there is one rule you’ve got to remember: If you’re already in the circle, you don’t yield; the folks trying to get into the circle yield to you. Please don’t let me in by stopping. The traffic is meant to keep moving. It may be the same folks who, when they approach a stop sign or are at a light, stop nearly two car lengths behind the white stop line for the crosswalk.

And one more thought clearance or “parking” lights cannot be on when driving without the headlights also being on. One should not drive down the road at dusk or night with just those lights on. It looks stupid.

Speaking of stupid, there is an absolute fact. Duct tape cannot fix stupid. Ever.

I was told today that Acton, Agua Dulce and Sand Canyon were not part of the Santa Clarita Valley – so why should I be concerned about a high-speed train that isn’t even going to go through our valley? Like I said, stupid can be fixed with duct tape. Ever.

Tomorrow is another day at the Junction. Heritage Junction, that is. Almost ready for the Cowboy Festival. Starting to look pretty good, my friends.

So much to see and do this weekend at the festival. Come on by and enjoy. The kids can pan for gold. We know they will find some.

Now to the barn for me. Need some sleep. Hope to see all y’all at Cowboy. Can hardly wait.

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].