Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Nevada is more than Clark County

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 8:25 a.m.

Ruthe Deskin is assistant to the publisher. Reach her at deskin@ lasvegassun.com.

Did someone say you can't go home again?

Well, you can. For a while, at least.

For the past week I have spent time in Northern Nevada -- Yerington, Reno, Virginia City, Lovelock, Fallon and even a place called Lousetown.

A serendipitous happening occurred in the town where I was born -- Yerington, sometimes known as Pizen Switch.

We drove by the Yerington Grammar School, which has been declared a national historical monument. Fortunately the class of 1950 something or other was holding a reunion, so the old school's doors were open to the public.

A great deal of restoration work has been done on the building, but I still recognized my old classrooms. When I introduced myself as a graduate of 1929, I became an instant celebrity.

Jim Sanford, former editor and publisher of the Mason Valley News, "the only paper that gives a damn about Yerington," was with the reunion group as tour guide. We swapped some tall tales about the old days and Sanford sent his regards to Mike O'Callaghan and the Greenspun family.

Northern Nevada is the site of many small towns like Yerington. Many people are finding these rural areas ideal places for retirement. You have to spend some time in places like Yerington to appreciate the laid-back living that has such appeal for so many who are seeking respite from city life.

I have been granted the blessing of a long tenure on this good Earth and never do I appreciate it more than when I see, for the first time, the small children of nieces and nephews I nurtured when they were babes. It's one of life's precious gifts -- family.

I would urge Southern Nevada residents to spend some time becoming acquainted with our friends to the north, and especially rural Nevada.

Visit the ranch country. Tour old ghost towns. Stop on a country road and chat with a farmer, and listen to a sheep-and-cattle man tell about the mountain lions that are becoming a real menace to the sheep grazing in high meadows.

Visit one of Nevada's working gold and silver mines. Glory in the beauty of Lake Tahoe. Discover the many hidden streams and lakes in the rugged mountains. Smell the fresh, invigorating aroma of a newly cut alfalfa field.

You will learn that Nevada really isn't just Clark County.

Back in Las Vegas and a week's supply of the Las Vegas Sun to read.

It's business as usual -- a murder here and there; the homeless getting more homeless; Councilman Mack still in hot water; Mayor Oscar Goodman and Father Joe Carroll at odds; water; traffic and all the rest. Then, I read my power bill. Oops! Thanks to President Bush, Congress and the IRS, my tax rebate arrived in time to pay to keep my lights on and air-conditioning working.

From the learning-something-new department: Don't fret about loss of memory. It's just something called benign forgetfulness of senescence.