When most people think of California images of girls in bikini's surfing, or maybe Brangalina and the Hollywood scene come to mind. Or I guess some people might think of the Golden Gate Bridge, El Capitan in Yosemite, or Highway 1 at Big Sur.
But in reality, for the most part California is none of those things. I have lived here long enough to know that. I also know that while interesting an/or beautiful, none of the above mentioned images is unique to the state. There are things though that separate California from the rest of the Union and conicidentally they are also my favorite things about living here. And they are abundant from San Jose to L.A. and beyond. In a way they comprise the core, the heart, the "essence" of California if you will.
It's the smell of the dry grass in the middle of the hot, parched, summer. When it is briefly wet with dew in the morning is when it is most addictive, and you can't get enough of it. It smells like life, like the old west, like adventure, like nature. If I didn't know any better I'd say that noses evolved just so we could appreciate this perfect smell.
It is the empty, treeless, yellow, hills that stretch for miles and miles, their smooth and gently rolling crests upolstered in gold shag carpet, and siluetted against a bright blue cloudless sky. These are the hills of Steinbeck, dusty and unforgiving in the heat of the day, barren and desolate under a full moon, but somehow still beautiful.
It is the scent of the redwoods, lodgepole pines and sequoias that drifts down from the higher mountains on the back of cool breezes that refresh your nostrils and cause you to gaze upward imagining a cool stream flowing gently through the rocks above. Images of pioneers, 49ers, Saloon Girls, and whiskey hover in your subconscious for just a moment and then vanish.
It is the mountains themselves rising up from the valleys in every direction like islands shrouded in a purple mist, framing the horizon, beckoning you to join them, to explore them, to break free of it all and run away to them as you sit in your car on the freeway locked in rush hour traffic.
This is the California I think of. This is the California I love.
Beautifully written dear sister...however there is a very memorable smell that you missed in the vicinity of Gilroy...Ok so maybe is it not JUST in Cali but I know I associate that smell with driving in the very early morning on my way to come see you.
ReplyDelete