OK, we have just moved to our retirement home in the town near where I was brought up and things have sure changed in 50 years!
For one thing, they have planted a lot more trees in the town which has made it look much better. From my recollection summers used to be rows of white painted houses with red roofs baking in the sun. Now the houses and buildings seem to have 'matured' somewhat and there is less of that frontier atmosphere.
But the countryside, thats a different story. Originally a cereal growing area it was taken over by sheep farming and now the dairy farmers have arrived.
When I was a kid, in the sheep era, fields (we call them paddocks) were bounded by gorse hedges and rows of quick growing pinus shelter belts. These dairy farmers are such tidy folks! They have swept away all the hedges and half the trees to make way for their beloved irrigation machines. All the old farm houses seem to have disappeared and the interestion assortment of varied farm buildings have been bulldozed and carried off.
So now we have modern brick and tile h
