Westwood, California

Corner Burger Stand

Young's Super Market

While staying with family at Lake Almanor, we decided to have breakfast in Westwood.  Westwood is a former wood mill town, the mill closed many years ago.  There isn't much to do in a town like this.

To be honet, the breakfast place had good food, but the service left a lot to be desired.  Other than the cooks in the kitchen, the staff consisted of one waitress and one person cleaning up the tables (and the person doing the cleaning was an older woman).

Going back to lack of things to do, the waitress and the older lady started to talk after our food had been delivered to our table.  The main topic of converstation was about the local High School Football coach telling the community that he was retiring.  Both of the women seem rather upset about his decision.  To further their dispair, the assistant coach of the team was also leaving.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder a number of things.  I suspect that High School Football is a big deal in this town since it is the only way a young man is going to be able to get out of there.  I also got the impression that the waitress had sons, close to the age of which she wanted more for them outside of Westwood.  She struck me as a true local who probably married her High School sweetheart, and I'm willing to bet that he was a local football star too.  At this point, it dawns on me, is there no other man in town that is capable of being the new coach??  And if anyone was interested in the job, would the town support him?  I suspect that the answer would be no.

In the meantime, I'm looking out the window, watching the world of Westwood go by.  Diagonal to the breakfast place, someone was setting up a burger stand.  This seemed to be small town escapism at its best.  I mean, what better place to hang out on a warm summer night to forget your small town woes?  Across the street is the local super market.  In a world of big name super markets, it was nice to see a local place still open.  I believe that the folks who work there know who is a local and who is just rolling through town.

Westwood reminds me of all that is good about small town America.