Last year, on the way back from Palm Springs, we stopped in Newman. It is located in California's great Central Valley, in an area known as the San Joaquin Valley. We were there on a hot day in July, found the hospital where Berlynn was born, the house that she lived in, Granma's place, Lloyd's, where she had her first brush with lawlessness, and the pool where she spent many summer days cooling off.
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Who says you can't go home again? Thomas Wolfe has never been to Newman... |
| This is now a Convalescent Hospital, in the fifties it was West Side hospital. "I was in a hurry even then, born in the hallway, two months early. They told mom to think of a name for the death certificate..." | |
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Mom brought me home from the hospital in October. Somehow the house looks a lot smaller today... |
| "Hey mommy, watch me jump off the steps." Why did that jump seem like such a long distance back then? | |
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This is the shed/garage/spare bedroom where Berlynn slept. No air conditioner here.. |
| The house was on Prince Street, Grandma and Grandpa later moved around the corner to Inyo. That sure seemed like a big move... | |
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Lloyd's Super Market on Main Street. Berlynn's first crimes were committed here when she took popsicles from the freezer and put them on Grandpa's tab without him knowing about it. But then there's nothing like an ice cold popsicle on a 100 degree day. And you have to believe that Lloyd knew the crime was being committed and that Grandpa chuckled when he paid the bill. |
| Back at Westside, Berlynn is standing just a few feet from where she was born. Exciting, eh? That pretty well shows everything in Newman. Sure we could have taken pictures of the pool, the theatre, and the hardware store or the government housing. But you know, it isn't that far away and we'll go back someday soon with Berlynn's mom. | |
Are you wondering what people in Newman do? Well let's just say there are a lot more cows than people in Newman...
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