My turn: New red light another chance to rest

It’s welcoming news to my lead foot that a traffic light is going up at Main and Second streets to replace the four-way stop sign, although I’d prefer the good old days when you could cruise, non-stop, all the way to Wal-Mart.

What does this mean for Portales? We’ll become a five-stoplight town.

I remember when we were only a three-stoplight town, which some of my college friends from Denver equated to being a one-horse town.

More importantly, the stoplight will serve as another local landmark. Just tell people, “Keep going ’til you get to the red light. No, not that one, the one on the other side of the courthouse.” Red lights are good landmarks for small-towners.

When I worked for the Abilene Reporter-News and had an assignment in the small, nearby town of Albany, Texas, a villager said, “Keep going ’til you get to the red light.” There was only one red light in town. No problem. However, as I told my co-worker, the light was actually green when my happy lead foot rolled in. Such pessimistic thinking.

During my younger, really-road-rage days, I detested four-way traffic lights, but my daughter, Laura, would say, “But mommy, it gives you a chance to rest.”