Finally, a street light we needed 60 years ago

Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - One really cool thing that resulted from the new street light was this scene across the street from the front of the house.

by Ted Escobar
| January 13, 2017 12:00 AM

The temperature was just about zero Friday evening when Pat called to me and practically ordered: “Honey come here. You have to see this.”

I was in my Easy Boy, relaxed, warm and watching the news on TV. It better be good, I said, as I got up and headed for the open front door.

“Just come here. You have to see this,” she said.

I stood at the door and looked out at the same scene I saw when Dad bought this house in 1957. I finally asked: what is it?

Pat pointed upward at a slight angle to a brand new street light right where we turn into our driveway. It’s a light for which she has begged the city since we moved here in 2004.

Well I’ll be, I said and congratulated her for her perseverance.

I sort of could have known about the light earlier in the day. Daughter-in-law Sabrina had said there were men working on the power pole outside.

That wasn’t really new to me because phone companies, Internet providers and power companies often have crews there. We live at the end of a street that abuts Interstate 84.

Every once in a while, when some city worker was within earshot, Pat would ask about a street light at the end of the street. Everybody said they would look into it.

She spoke to three mayors and one police chief. The chief raised her ire when he said: You can probably have one if you pay for it. She went into a long spiel about taxes paid and stuff like that. Still no street light.

Pat doesn’t know which request worked or if her requests worked at all. But I gave her credit.

It takes so long to get a street light in Granger that this was an event. All the kids went out to look and cheered. They will be able to take well-lit walks and enjoy later evening play. The other end of the driveway-parking area has a big yard light.

Pat did better than she hoped for. Instead of placing the light at the end of the street, the City put it right at our driveway entrance. And it lights everything to the freeway.

It also lights up the front lawn, where brothers Rich, Bob, Dave and I and the neighbor kids played night football with empty bright yellow Pennzoil motor oil cans. All we had in those years was a 100-watt bulb under the front eave of the house.

I’m excited to let them know we finally have a light under which we can play. It probably won’t make any difference. Rich turns 69 this year, Bob 66 and Dave 60, and I am the oldest.

Hey, but we got our street light.