Why we left California

How could we leave this place?

I started thinking about this because I've been reading a book called Where Light Takes its Color from the Sea, by James Houston, that I got for my birthday, (thanks DNA!)

Although we were deeply rooted in California and loved many things about it, we had to leave. Not that anyone cares, but this is why.

1) Money, or lack of it. We wanted to buy a house, with a little land attached (as if!) One place we looked at stands out in my memory. It was just above our price range: $150,000. It was about 90 minutes out of town on a windy road, in dense forest, on 1 steeply sloped acre, by a creek. There was a building: a tiny concrete box, a hermit's (prison?) retreat. It was either something like this or a small tract house in Salinas under large power lines.

2) People, too many. And more people are always coming. Mr. Houston says in his book that it averages one thousand per day. When I was growing up, it was fairly busy, but not too busy. In recent years it's become unbearably busy. The busy people are cranky. And rude!

3) This is kind of harsh, and you may disagree with me, but I have to say it: somebody ruined it. Even when I was little, I didn't like looking at the ugliness of what had been done to California. A beautiful, perfect place, trashed. It's too much to look at. Not just the industrial messes and sprawling cities. There's a carelessness in so many aspects of the place. I can't even stand the ice plant on Westcliff drive. Drive down to Big Sur and you're overwhelmed by its natural beauty, untouched. I always try to imagine what the rest of California must have looked like before, how lovely and serene it must have been when Native Americans were there alone.

4) Wildness. I wanted to live in a place that still had it. California feels like a place where thousands have walked over every surface, and the original inhabitants are long gone.

5) Fog. Not a fan. Summer should be hot. Skies should be clear; big white puffy clouds are ok, but no fog. Also, smog, it rhymes with fog, but is much worse, and is abundant in California.

What did we find?

1) A very beautiful, wild place that is perfect in the months of June-September and a challenge the rest of the year.

2) The people are coming here too. We are some of them. Now it's busy. People are getting cranky...

3) Now what?

We love Hawaii; the people, the climate, the beach, the food, and the laid back atmosphere. But the more people that move there, the busier it will get and, you know what happens next...

It's 52 degrees with rain clouds hovering at 1:00 pm.