Going to California

In my life, I’ve been to California three times.  The first time as a marine doing desert training in the Mohave Desert.  (By the way, for giggles, do a five day forecast search on the Weather Channel website – it puts your own experience in perspective.)  The second time, I was with my wife in Sacramento and the Sonoma valley and its wine.  Today, I’m in California as part of a family vacation/baseball trip.  California does something to me and fills me with a spirit that is difficult to describe.  I’m an east coast guy, who has been rather divisive of the west coast.  While it is filled with its share of peculiar people, it is the spirit that draws me back.   

I think part of California’s draw goes back to the spirit that first moved European peoples into the region in the first place.  The east, the place I called home for a long time, represented the old and the established.  From the earliest moments of our history, people have chosen to leave the old and set out a course for something new.  Beginning in the 1840s, one of those destinations was Alta (Upper) California and with the gold strike in 1849, the trickle of hardy souls turned into a wave of mass migration seeking fortune and a new start.  From that point, California represented opportunity, youth, risks and adventure.  The people that traversed the Great Plains were the future of our country and that painted the region with a perpetual sense of youth and adventure. 

So, to enter the state today, one is confronted with the spirit of California.  To notice how often we run into Europeans, it is an idea that has permeated throughout the Old World.  Sure, many travelers want to see New York City but it is California that beckons.  There are many things within the state that are appealing and one of those things is its diversity.  The youthful-in-spirit population is as different as the landscape that surrounds them.  In the north, epitomized by Sacramento, there is a difference in attitude and outlook that often runs in contrast with the heavily populated areas of central and southern California.  One of the major differences is political as the northern part of the state is generally more conservative.  This places it in stark contrast with the rest of the state.  Additionally, the high mountains and tall trees with smaller towns create a different aura.   

The central part of the state, spanning from San Francisco in the north to the Los Angeles area to the south is full of activism, liberalism and an alternative spirit.  San Francisco is a quirky city that tolerates little in the way of conventional thinking.  Anyone who suggests otherwise is seen as the weird ones.  The city by the bay is probably the most similar like the large burgs of the northeast – small, compact, confined by geography.  To the south is Los Angeles.  The problem in defining the city of angels is that there is the perception (often centered around the entertainment industry) and the reality.  The reality is a mixture of ethnicities and economies that provides a contrast to the silliness of Hollywood.  The working class Los Angelinos probably has little understanding of the peculiarities of their own city, much less those of San Francisco.  Their live is their family, their work and their neighborhoods.  Still, they are concerned by various issues ranging from gay rights, to immigration to government services and historically, have fought for their views.

In the southern part of the state, typified by San Diego, a split personality exists.  There is the laid back Jimmy Buffetness of the beach life and the military world which has long been an integral part of the city.  The people of San Diego are split politically, a bifurcation that separates along the lines of their paradigms - social activism and military conservatism.  While there is also activism in the city, it is much more toned down (neighborhoods like Hillcrest notwithstanding) and understated than what is found in the rest of the state.  In short, San Diego stands removed from the rest of the state on many levels. 

In some ways, the calls for California to be split into multiple states would not be a horrible idea.  Likely, the state would be divided along the previously mentioned lines.  However, it would possibly ruin the spirit of the state.  What makes California so mesmerizing is watching how the different components fit (though some say they don't).  Perhaps, one could not get such a vibe from the state if it were more homogenous, which a separation would surely do.  San Francisco needs San Diego and vice versa as fodder for cultural and zeitgeist comparisons.  On the same basis, every town needs Los Angeles.  I like the state.  I still would not live here but I’d hate to think of the United States without California.