California, a love letter

“‘And what is your religion?’ I asked him.

‘I think it is California,’ he replied.”*

The land of a thousand fires, the land I can’t stand to leave. California, I love you. I love every mountain top, every grain of sand, and every gust of wind that gently dances with my hair. 

I take a deep breath, I close my eyes. I am happy, I am here. 

They say “from sea to shining sea” but all I see is up and down your coastline. 

I look at the beaches and think of the Chumash tribes paddling their canoes centuries ago. A land later inhabited by Spanish settlers who built their missions that still stand today. Then came the cowboys with their horses and the goldminers too. They spent days and months digging for gold, unaware they were digging into the goldmine in itself: California. And then the glitz and the glam arrived in Hollywood, the epicenter of creativity: art, film, music.

There’s no structure here: just untethered outlaws living for a thrill. 

California, you never pretend to be anything you’re not. You are authentically you and let us see all your triumphs and all of your faults. I’ve smiled at every rainbow and coughed around the ashes from the fires you burn. But I never resent you. I forgive and forgive, only because I love you. 

You’re the golden land where every day the world is born anew. **

You’re the land where dreams come true. 

I love you, California. Just tell me you love me too. 

*From an interview with Gottardo Piazzoni conducted by Max Stern

**From “Life Styles in the Golden Land” by Joan Didion