California Cries Over Spilled 'Breastmilk' TMZ Take a look at an interesting article we found.
California Legislature on the verge of major achievements Los Angeles Times Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Today is a free fishing day in California Los Angeles Times Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The concept of Afternoon Tea can be enjoyed even if you don't stand on ceremony.
September 09, 2009
What they found they didn’t exactly know.
Since, as Gertrude Stein said about this place, "There is no there there.”
Unless you’re a member of the California Chamber of Commerce, you may not know that California entered the Union, as the 31st state, on this date in 1850.
Not without a bitter dispute that ended with the Compromise of 1850.
Because of that “there” issue, the soon to be "Eureka" state didn't know of their new status until mid October when the steamer Oregon sailed into San Francisco Bay with the banner claiming "California Is a State."
We all know about the glories of California, the glorious weather, (except when it rains for two straight weeks), the glorious beaches, but that’s no fun to talk about.
What you may not know is that California is one of the leading turkey producers in the country.
And that doesn't count the numerous “turkeys” Hollywood churns out every year.
Speaking of birds, in Arcadia, home of the majestic racetrack Santa Anita, peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, including driveways.
And due to some strict Ice cream laws you can't eat ice cream while standing on the sidewalk in Carmel. And if you wear high heels eating ice cream, they’ll really throw the book at you.
(You’ll have to tangle with Clint Eastwood if you do.)
Some say Joseph Spinney, who was the mayor in Fresno for ten minutes, was the most corrupt politician in U.S. history.
(Although Illinois might want to dispute that claim. There's such a thing as state pride.)
Just a few personal opinions about "the artichoke capital of the world."
I would say California serves up the best hot dogs, hamburgers and guacamole.
(Just to start an argument.)
On a slightly more serious note, this is perhaps the only state in the union that could overturn their own Supreme Court's decision for progress by coming up with an Amendment, in Proposition 8, to defeat it.
As writer Edward Abbey put it, “There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.”
I hope this great state, with the 8th ranked economy in the world, doesn’t mind me tweaking it a bit.
Any state that has Arnold Schwarzenegger as “Governator” has to have a sense of humor.
The Perfect California Hamburger post-gazette.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
" The History of Hollywood - Los Angeles" hollywoodusa.co Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The California Gold Rush, 1849 history.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Last spring my sister and I visited the Bay Area for the first time (well, my first time; first o...
Sep. 09, 2009 8:40 AM
What do you like best about California?
18% 5% 8% 55% 8% 8%
"Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles. Frank Lloyd Wright
Its amazing how all of California 's history and accomplishments are often overshadowed by the advances that Beverly Hills doctors have made in plastic surgery. Thre's an entire generation of televison addicts who believe that the American dream is attaining the unrealistic physical perfection of a certain zip code.
There used to be a saying about New York City: 'It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!' California has inherited rights to this ambiguous motto.
Don't miss places in California (when you visit): the drive from San Francisco to Jenner along the coast road; the fainting goats and geyser at Calistoga; the winding road down from Lake Berryessa to Napa; any IN-N-Out Burger joint; the La Brea Tar Pit in Los Angeles; the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden in San Marino; and then there are the ones eveyone knows about.... Oh, you might visit John and Lupita in Palo Alto (say hi!) and ask them to show you their 2,000 square foot home worth $1,000,000. Then ask them, 'How far is it to the San Andreas Fault?' Since they're nice folks, they won't groan and roll their eyes like some Californians....
My brother and sister-in-law live in a fly-in community in Aguanga Calif. I've been there twice. It's very dusty and I prefer the Coast here in OC.
They are 45 minutes from a grocery store and anything else.
The other parts of Ca. that I've seen were pretty but I'll stay where I am.
Well not today since I've got to go to the DC area to do some work. I'll see you all saturday.
Last spring my sister and I visited the Bay Area for the first time (well, my first time; first of many, I hope) and I loved the time spent in San Francisco. After a few days there (including an all-too-brief sojourn with a man I could seriously spend all my life with if he didn't live 3000 miles away), we left the city and went to staywith a friend in Sebastapol, and went on a "burgers, bakeries and bathrooms" tour of western Sonoma and Marin counties. Best burger - at The Bone Roadhouse in Gualala (just over the line in Mendocino Co.). Not just the best burger we found, but the Best Burger Ever Anywhere. Best Bakery - either a little one on Occidental, or the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes Station. Best bathroom is also in Pt. Reyes Station. Point Reyes - Shell Beach - Stump Beach - Armstrong Woods - happening upon a mariaci band playing at a party in Jenner while the sun sank in to the azure sea, staining the sky with gold and crimson.... Fresh avocados - the view from Mt. Vision - the wind at Goat Rock... tree ferns in Golden Gate Park... trees and flowers that seem to have fallen from a Dr Seuss book...
more on the honor rollIf I win the lottery, I'm going back. And I'm gonna see that man in San Francisco again. I really, truly did leave my heart there.
The "real deal" about any region of the country is often categorized very differently when perceived through fresh eyes. My daughter just transferred to the high school just across the county line. That region's official economy is in worse shape than ours. Rural, much land not tillable {foothills of Appalachian Mountains}, and the few jobs that remain are unskilled. Wall Mart has forced the closure of two dozen businesses, leaving their couorthouse looking like Fort Apache in the center of boarded-up storefronts. There are jobs, however. The cultivation and harvesting of marijuana has overtaken tobacco as the #1 cash crop. Third on the list is the list will soon be manufacturing and distributing crystal methamphetamine. On the other hand, it is beautiful country, and real estate is affordable. Wildlife abounds, trails let tourists see wild turkeys, deer, dozens of varieties of woodpeckers, and bear. Just don't wander off the trail, because you might just get your knees blown off by a shotgun tied to a tree and operated by a trespasser hitting a trip wire. With this being our environment, my daughter rejects the idea of going away to college and getting a good job in the city. Is there any special potion to get a 15 year old to wake up and smell the coffee?
well there yah go! not much i can add to this topic, that stoney hasn't already posted. good morning eye's. it's a beautiful morning here.
Bert: Get her talking to a woman in her 20s (or 30s) who is 'stuck' in town and unhappy with missed opportunities... 'Don't end up like me, honey!' often works when the 'preaching' of the successful does not. [Doing 'summer jobs' in steel mills, chemical factories and mines kept many guys in my generation 'pointed in the right direction' -- and I can still remember washing up after 'shift' with the old guys telling me, 'Hey, kid, you don't want to work here. Look at me! You don't want to end up like me, do you?' These guys were very persuasive....
Someone or other said that California is like granola...what isn't fruit and nuts is flakes...
Every place looks different depending on where you are 'coming from'.... My memories of Albuquerque, NM, will always include unloading a boxcar, running out of money and having to borrow five bucks from a priest to buy food, watching grease congeal as it ran down my wrist working in the cold on my 'maintenance job' at Winrock Mall.... I could go on and on.... If I'd come in by plane (instead of a broken down truck with $125 in my pocket) I suspect I'd have an entirely different view of Albuquerque.... Regards California, I wonder how Mexican migrant workers picking garlic in Gilroy think of California. (Hint: Read anything by Eric Hoffer... If you have never heard of him, take a couple of minutes to read this >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer ...
Here's a cool website about the first few miles north of San Francisco (along the Coast Highway).... the last time I was out here, it was dusk and I looked across Tomales Bay, watching the lights on the opposite shore.... A nice memory. Oh, yeah, the link: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1127/chapter9.pdf
Bert: I think Doc has your answer. A pal of mine who attended Mt. Holyoke (obviously didn't need to be convinced to get out of her hick town) spent one summer working in the local paper mill (north Florida - I sweat jsut thinking about it). She thanked her lucky stars that she was able to leave that job at the end of the summer, unlike the women who were stuck there for the rest of their lives.
Doc Nolan, Shandonista: Thanks so very much for your guidance and your kind words. I am going to get a printout of today's discussion, so I have total recall of your good ideas.
Nolana: Would you PLEASE consider being our tour guide? lol Most Summers I take my kid somewhere exotic, then darned if we don't seem to "find" every tourist trap the cities and villages have to offer. The local guides get commissions for steering tourists to their "authentic" t-shirt shops, eating at McDonald's, and spending the evenings watching satellite television...
Sroney I seriously think I'm in love with you...
of course I meant SToney...
Bert - May I suggest you be your own tour guide? My hubby and I have planned three trips to Europe and did all the planning ourselves. Buy a good atlas, decide what you and your kid(s) like to do/see/visit and off you go.....For European planning, we've always relied on the Michelin Guides. Red Guides are restaurants and hotels and the Green guides for tourist info. Please pardon me if this is perfectly obvious to you!
My brother has been taking his family to the Abacos for the past few years. They did all the planning - rent a house via internet, book the plane tickets, etc. No guide necessary.
This is not to say that good guides can't be found. My evil stepmother is a travel agent and leads tours to eastern locales - her specialty is Turkey. Since she has so much experience there, lived there, and speaks the language, I'd probably never go with anyone else.
ChefDeb - the line forms right behind me!
California has beautiful ocean beaches, mountains, deserts, bays, national parks, forests, sunsets, etc....
California has horrible unemployment, earthquakes, droughts, mudslides, fires, traffic, etc...
I guess there's always a trade off...but that's true of every place, isn't it?
From coast-to-coast, look for the positive and enjoy the uniqueness that each location has to offer.
San Diego is also a pretty city and fun place to explore. Mission Bay, Old Town, Sunset Cliffs, the Embarcadero, Balboa Park and the fantastic restaurants; such as Candelas on the Bay in Coronado for some wonderful Mexican food, or Baci Ristorante in Old Town for Italian cuisine...yum!
The Lost Coast
100 miles of bad road, but the most beautiful place I have ever been...ever. It was originally slated to be an extension of the Pacific Coast Highway, but the terrain was next to impossible, so they stopped building once the initial road was carved out. The first time I visited the Tour of the Unknown Coast was in progress. It was my ancient Honda and hundreds of Mountain bikes on this winding (almost two lane) dirt road that seemed to drop into the sea at points, and disappear into forests that I swear still contain hobbits at others. The second time I was there, I crossed a bridge over a small crystal clear stream filled with small trout, to be greeted by the business end of a shot gun. My <ex>husband lamely offered "Umm...is Dave here?" The barrel dropped, "You're Dave's friends? Come on in...You're early. Dinner isn't ready yet." And with those words I dove into the rabbit hole.
Shandonista: One of the excellent benefits of this diverse website is running past other members questions about travel, your point is so very well taken, thanks!
Damselfly: Ohio Department of Natural Resources puts out a free paperback book with color pictures, listing every dragonfly and damselfly in the state, and where ther populate. It's one of my favorite glove compartment books, and it fascinates some of the adults (if not the children) wherever I go.
Bert: Thank you. They have a copy online, and I can see why it fascinates...As a kid I remember spending hours with my Grandmothers tattered field guide to North American birds that she kept in the glove box...occasionally I was even able to identify one.
In the old days of California, long, long ago, (I'm told, I wasn't there at the time) coffee got brewed by chucking a handful of grounds in a kettle of water boiling over an open fire. A raw egg, thrown into the brew, would poach on the bottom of the kettle, thereby binding up the grounds so they would not pour out into the cup. (we read our fortunes in our tealeaves, but perhaps see only destitution in leftover coffee grounds, so we don't want them in our cups) I'll be somebody chucked the empty eggshell into the kettle once, either by accident or attitude, and, EUREKA! discovered that it cut the acid bite of coffee so barbarically brewed. Many thanks to PeterLake for the name of Gladstone! (Begging forgiveness if it is inappropriate to blur the distinctions between today and yesterday)...
Visions of paradise......
You probably have already surmised that a foolish woolgatherer like me would rather hold on tightly to the hopes, wishes and California dreams of the past than to point and sneer at its seemingly insurmountable problems that it faces today.
Many or most of these problems may not have been created had this state not been so beautiful, so idyllic, so prosperous, and so successful in attracting oh so many people who flocked to it bringing nothing but short-term dreams and long-term problems.
If I could have lived in a time and a place in California it would have been:
I would live there if I could; before it became too good to be true.
Having visited California several times, I have come to conclude that anyone who is still under the delusion that it is a state needs to come out from under their rock, meaning that in the nicest way possible. California is a country, through and through. Just look at their university system. System! Of course, I was born and raised in Montana, with various high school teachers who informed us rather gleefully that if Montana were a sovereign nation right now, it would be the fourth largest nuclear power in the world. This neglects the fact that most of the missile silos are defunct now, and we would have, in effect, stolen the United States of America's weapons, which would leave Washington D.C. rather miffed, to say the least (understatement of the year). Anyway, California is another country, and should just detach itself and hang out with Hawaii. And Alaska can come, too. (Prize for anyone who gets the reference).
I just wrote words on yesterday again. Oh, well, what else is new.
My one visit to California I've written about here, before, so I shan't bore y'all with detail. Briefly, I loved San Francisco and Berkeley; adored the drive up the coast to Dillon Beach, where the San Andreas fault enters the sea, roiling it so wildly that signs warn swimmers not to enter there. House-sat in one made of glass; deer appeared daily at precisely 5pm, grazed right to the edge of the cliff overlooking the Pacific, never falling off,. then disappeared 'til 5pm next day. Unafraid even of me-through-glass. How different that coast from my broad, subtle, sandy Southeastern ones: Black volcanic rocks upthrust cry out "Look at me!!" A bit like Maine in that regard, but bolder. At high tide the waves crashed against my cliff so loudly I heard them throughout the house; took a bit of getting-used-to. A small bakery at Dillon Beach made the absolute best French bread ever I tasted. I talked with the baker, who said even if he gave me a bit of dough as starter, only my first loaf would replicate his, given the different bacteria in the air here and there. Disappointment
I guess congratulations are in order for California. (Personally [cf. yesterday's topic], not my cup of live-there tea, but I loved my visit).
V-Blurring distinctions is rarely inappropriate-we do it all the time...
I remember getting lost in Golden Gate Park, dandering down Lombard Street, riding trolleys to The Magic Pan and Fisherman's Wharf, gazing out at Alcatraz, walking over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, where I saw for the first time ORANGES GROWING ON TREES! Woo-hoo, looky thar! They sure do make a mess! I read that they're using them for something really cool now, maybe it's orange cleaning spray, can't recall.
I remember being taken to lovely restaurants and hot dog dives (Pink's) in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive and the Getty Museum, Grauman's and shopping in the Disney thingy, and spending quality time with a friendly Eyester, watching the sun set on lovely beaches and piers, among other things.
Wonderful! What's next?
The music says it all......
I wanted to live in Redwood City CA when I graduated from college with my degree in Micro-precision Technology. I stayed in IL and worked in the field until "peace" broke out. The Department of Defense $ ran out and I never was so glad in my life to lose a job.
Since then my best friend has moved to Alemeda Island and I once again visited the west coast. A great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there now. Next time I vivit I'll take the train west.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKeXkhxiq6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0UcQDUR-fU
Peter Lake...California Dreamin'...that will come in handy on a winter's day, when all the leaves are brown and the sky is gray...
California was founded on dreams and promise. Today, it still holds the dreams and promise for many. We cannot give up on hope - the last thing left in Pandora's box - the first thing in the heart of humankind.
I love you Peterman, but the creeping lack of attention to detail in both the catalogs and the first thing I see in my initial visit to this site is saddening. It is okay to use literary and historical shorthand to ping the erudite aspirations of the upper-middle class in order to sell things, but geepers, please check your sources. Gertrude Stein's quote was about specifically about Oakland, not California in toto, and was her own expression of Wolfe-ian mourning of the passage of time, as she could not find her childhood house when returning to visit as an adult. It's so easy to just do a quick wiki search! You are so much better than getting it wrong. I do love your clothes, your fantastic customer service, delivery, method of packing things so well for shipping, and most of your copywriting (when it's accurate). Viva perfection!
Perfection is overrated.
I have been to Los Angeles, I have been to San Diego; I have no intention of going back to Los Angeles . . . might go back to SD. Other than that, I have nothing much to say about the state beyond a supreme disappointment in Prop 8's passage.
It will be interesting to see if the push to rewrite the State's Constitution goes through or not.
Khritterbean, this Peterman chap can be a little rough around the edges {as to not always getting a 2nd source before publishing, the old news editor's rule}, but then again he does provide free of charge an interesting venue that acts as a magnet for a diverse audience. Come back, don't make your cameo appearance your ONLY appearance.....we will win you over. Personally all I shop for are a few new perspectives on complicated issues, so I have no horse in this race, but I have made quite a few virtual friends.....
...and Capistrano has swallows and the Mission.
It was very nice, I have photographs, they'll do if I need to see either the birds or the bricks, since I'm not much interested in going back there again.
Oh. But the weather was nice in San Diego, there's good weather there. We got tired of going to all the fine and dandy recommended evening places, so we put on our jeans and went down by the ships one night, wound up in a strip joint, where I spent the night talking with 4 strippers about their lives, stayed till 2 a.m. when the smoke cleared and I got sick of the stories.
There's no California Dreamin' for pole dancers and prostitutes.
They live hellish lives.
Bert: Your plea for me to be your tour guidebrings to mind my one bad experience in SF: My sister and I found that we had miscalculated, and booked our B&B (in serene Noe Valley) for one night too few, and we were without accommodation for one night. Thus began a scramble to find a room, and we went to the visitors' center at Pier 39 for info on motels. Oh, what a terrible, depressing, desolate place! Hard Rock Cafe, Mrs Field's Cookies, a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop, and thousands and thousands of tourists with no imagination. With all of that beautiful city, all of that beautiful Bay, ferries to Marin... parks, museums, even just beautiful streets to explore, these blank-faced, blank-minded galoots were drawn to the tourist trap like bugs to a light, blundering around mindlessly, seeing nothing, experiencing nothing. I could not get away from that wretched place fast enough. When my sister and I went to Sausalito the next day, instead of poking around in shops and galleries, we poked around among the rocks at the water's edge,pestering the tiny crabs that we found there. As a lost, wet summer fades here in New England, and the specter of another long, gray winter looms, oh, how I want to go back to that sunlit coast!
What isn't mentioned often is the breathtaking beauty of the place. We drove through Big Sur and started rating the views with how many oooooohhhhs and aaaaahhhhhs with which we reacted.
PETER LAKE: You would have enjoyed the California of the 40's and 50's ....... It was still burgeoning back then, and the assumed License to do Goofy S__t and have a Mint Green Mohawk to go with the Safety Pins gouged thru your Nipples, and a Zipper tattoo'd across your mouth, that even when closed doesn't stop the shrieking from the pain caused by some Drug saturated,Gothic Poster Child for Anorexia tightening Thumb Screws around your Gonads ... Pain so unimaginably horrific that by comparison, one is actually glad to see the Hare Krishna at the Airport, and will gladly yell out to them, "I AM THE WALRUS ..." ..............
BERT: Shandonista has gottit right ... Do the planning yourself ... it is fun and something to share with a Friend/Spouse/Significant Other/Family or even your Dog, provided he doesn't eat your Map Crayons when you're not watching ... Quite a shock, to be out in the yard surveying the day, in the early morning Sunshine, cup of coffee in hand, perhaps a morning Cigar in the other ... and begin to notice a series of technicolor Pyramids decorating your Bocce Court ....... But doing the planning yourself is educational to, and will give you practice pronouncing the names of places you will want to go, when you finally get a Cab Driver to stop, who hasn't got eleven other people and a Goat already ub the car ... believe me, you'd rather kiss your Mother-in-Law .......
PARK4: When Cass Elliot et al were belting out the strains of California Dreamin' ... Pole Dancing was in its infancy ... as were a lot of the Girls that grew up to become Pole Dancers, and had never heard of The Mamas and Papas, or their Killer Music ... But I'll betcha if it had been a "Thing" at the time, as improbable as it would have seemed, Ellen Cohen would have tried it, and I'll bet she would have done it too .......
Kindlee - I always appreciate it when you sing and speak of hope. I bet there isn't a jaded molecule in your body; a rare quality indeed.
OK, Arnold Schwartzenegger might have a strange sounding name, and an accent to match, as for strangeness when it comes to governors they cannot hold a candle to MN. I mean Jessee Ventura? Not even close!
bob
A west coast sunset is a sight to behold. To never tire of experiencing them, or take them for granted would be my wish.
This is especially true on those calm, clear evenings when the sun suddenly begins it descent into slumber. It is then that the Pacific gently exhales itself onto the shore that when it inhales and draws them back out to sea... your cares and worries are drawn out to sea with them; leaving you with a sweet, gentle peace....... if only for a few moments.
All that is required to experience and deeply appreciate such a thing wherever you may be; is an open mind and a heart filled with hope that invites it to find you.
Peace out and sweet dreams..........
Illinois may not have the most corrupt politician, but we make up for it in quantity and longevity.
Peter Lake, Thank you. A very lovely sunset you paint with your words...something to picture in one's dreams...sweet dreams till sunbeams find you...
...to everyone...
ChefDeb & Shandonista,
You guys are impossibly romantic, sweet and you would have proud of the old codger today.
My wife recovering from oral surgery needed extra TLC, pills and pillows, chicken soup, yogurt and finally a tuna casserole that she has been craving. Even opened up the tin of foot rubs for her. Sshh, I liked it.
She's a tough little cookie. Imagine if it had been me, I would have gone on for paragraphs and dragged the whole village down with me... for days.
Thanks for your kindness,
Stoney
Redwoods - the best place of all in CA!
Shade, silence like a cathedral, and the lovely green dappled light.
I saw spectacular Pacific sunsets this summer on the west coast (Clew Bay)of Ireland in
Kilmeena, Co. Mayo Ireland. I was born in Castlebar and was visiting my father's townland.
By The Way -
Check out this site during daytime hours! http://www.squaw.com/high-camp-cam
The images now:
Lake Tahoe
High Camp's upper deck in the foreground.
KT-22
Broken Arrow in foreground, Lake Tahoe in background.
Headwall to North Bowl.
Lagoon and Spa with Squaw Peak.
Emigrant Peak.
Beginner area in foreground .
Emigrant Peak and The Funnel (zoomed view)
Granite Chief Peak
Beginner area in foreground .
Granite Chief Peak (zoomed view)
Upper terminal of Silverado lift in lower left.
My friend Joan called from Squaw Valley and I googled this site and saw her (in real time)
talking on the phone to me. WILD!
As a native Californian, born in Los Angeles, living now in the midwest, I have, and always will, feel like a transplant. The mindset is so different here. Change is not welcome here, and I would say that it is actually feared. In California we thrived on change, and anything different from the norm was usually celebrated. Of course, the weather in Cal is almost always perfect.
My early memories of growing up in Lakewood California are of Disneyland (I met Walt Disney there one day), Knots Berry Farm (many a first date there, and last ones too), orange and avocado groves, Catalina Island, eucalyptus trees, the view of the city at night from Signal Hill, and dairy farms that were somehow right in the middle of the city. One could still see the mountains on the horizon before it started getting a bit smoggy, and I loved listening to the surrounding traffic as I sat out on our front porch steps early in the morning. And the earthquakes...well...just made things a bit more exciting. Lakewood Center was the first shopping mall in the U.S. and within walking distance from my house in the suburbs. Our Lakewood police dept. was the first ever to use a helicopter on its police force (operation Sky Knight).
I loved our trips to Walnut Creek, right outside San Francisco, to see my Uncle Jack who was a Master Chief in the Navy. He would take me to Mount Diablo, and in to San Francisco, and we would ride the cable cars. He would sometimes take me into Chinatown and have my fortune told by a very exotic and mysterious Asian woman in a candle lit room. It was very exciting and I was very taken by all of it.
During the mid '60's, what started out as "Happenings" in Griffith Park, evolved into "Love-Ins" of which I still have fond memories. Not long after that, during the "Summer of Love", my friends and I ran off to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco to find "where it's at". We found it, but it was a bit more than I had bargained for. It was a bad trip. Music has always been a big part of my life, and I am unable to bring up the memory of those times in California without hearing Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, and Beatle songs running through my head. Huntington Beach became my ultimate hang-out, and I have the actinic keratosis to prove it.
As fate would have it, I fell in lust with a beautiful Missouri girl, and moved to the midwest. Lust is not a real good basis for marriage, but it does produce offspring, and when the marriage didn't work out like it should have, I couldn't bear to be away from my offspring, so I'm a Missouri boy now, chiggers and all. And I love my place here on Shoal Creek (and trips to Kansas City), but I'm still a Californian at heart.
I get home every Summer to visit my old stomping grounds, and have been known, on occasion, to jump on a westward flight for a three day weekend of surfing when I just can't shake the homesickness. L.A. is my city, and always will be. Maybe someday, if I don't get some grandkids pretty soon, I'll just pack up and go home.
Tiberius: I understand. I feel the same way about the Midwest. Even if the places change, and they do, and sights aren't as good for seeing, we all have that special place on earth that we call "home," and for each of us, it's the best place to be, to have been, to go back to.
I like your last sentence, and I hope in my heart you do that if that's what your heart starts telling you, more and more often. Listen to it, and follow its voice.
Just don't wait too long.
Thanks PARK4! It's nice to know that someone else understands where I'm coming from. You are exactly right in saying that we all have that special place that we call home, and that I shouldn't wait too long to follow my heart. Life is so short.
I appreciate your comments. My best regards to you.