Okie from Oildale doesn't sound as good

It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)


Merle Haggard is playing at the Crystal Palace tonight. Tickets are $45 to $60 bucks! I decided to take my son on a tour of Oildale instead. Merle was born in Oildale in 1937 and was raised in a converted boxcar (just like many of the current residents.) Oildale is sort of like the embarrassing step-child of Bakersfield. The population is almost 90% white, poor and uneducated. Its the place where many of the Okies settled after the dust bowl and things haven't changed much since. A drive through Oildale helps you appreciate what you have.

Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised to see the place looking much better. The lawns were green and tidy (if you overlook the dilapidated, abandoned pick- ups) there were flowers in the beds and fresh paint on the walls. Wow! What's going on here? I'm impressed! Things have definitely taken a turn for the better ever since that new winery came to town!

Just then a dude with no shirt rode by on his bicycle with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. There ya go....