FEB 22, 25.. CALFORNIA DREAMING..
Here we go, back some sixty seven (67) years of my life to January 1958.
On January the 29th 1958, in Detroit, Michigan, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. It was a very bitter cold and snowy day. I boarded a train with some other Marine Corps Recruits and headed for.. Taa Daa.. San Diego, California and the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
En route we stopped in (I will never forget this) Fullerton, California. It was warm. It was sunny. It was really pleasant.
And I thought to myself.. “Why on Earth are people living back in Michigan when California is so nice in early February. “
I spent the next six, or so months in the Marine Corps in Southern California. Then I was sent to Hawaii for several more years in the Marine Corps. En route to Hawaii, we stopped for a week or so in San Francisco on the (then) Naval Base on Treasure Island.
San Francisco and Treasure Island, California, THAT DID IT. Love at first sight.
I solemnly pledged to myself.. “Someday I MUST come back to California to live!”
It took a few years, but in 1964 my wife and two sons moved from Phoenix, Arizona, where I was working, to Coalinga, California, in the California’s Central Valley. In the autumn of 1965 we moved to San Francisco.
My family and I lived and worked back East in construction and professional auto racing, but our home and our roots were in San Francisco. Yes we lived in West Germany four years but again, our home and roots were in San Francisco.
So “all told”, I lived in California (San Diego, Coalinga, San Francisco, Fresno) for some thirty three (33) years.
In terms of having a State Driver’s License and a State Voter’s Registration Card, I have lived longer in the State of California than in any other State or Country. Alaska is now “closing in” but California remains the leader.
Patti too has deep roots in California. From age 10 months until 1963 (23 years) when Patti moved to Alaska, Patti lived primarily in Southern California.
California is part of both of us. Thus the below NATIONAL TODAY / NATIONAL DAY CALENDAR “Holiday” .. fits..
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We celebrate National California Day on February 22.
It is a day to commemorate the Golden State of the United States of America. California is one of the western states in the U.S. It is also the most populous state and the third-largest state by area. California has a rich history that witnessed native American life, European exploration, Spanish colonization, the Mexican era, the Gold Rush, and U.S. statehood. California is one of the most popular destinations, famous for monuments like the Golden Gate Bridge, places like Disneyland and Hollywood.
California is a beauty that adorns the western landmass of the beautiful U.S., with shimmering beaches washed by the deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Nevada deserts in the east. Its north is graced by occasional prairies, marshes, and other wetlands bordering Oregon, and finally, the Mexican borders to the south. California is a land of geographical diversity, blessed with seashores, forests, deserts, valleys, coastal mountain ranges, and a thriving agricultural landmass. The state has a rich history divided into five major periods.
Native American culture has strong roots in California. The Native American period started about 10,000 years ago and ended with European explorations in the 1500s. Before the European age, California held about one-third of the total population of Native Americans. The Spanish explorers named California. Settlements grew over time, and the land of California welcomed them all. Between 1769 and 1821, the Spanish colonized California. But the colonization efforts were faced with many difficulties. The lack of an organized agricultural tradition, the absence of organized tribes, and the difficulty of procuring food supplies and domestic animals made it difficult. The isolation of California did not help at all in the process. In 1821, Mexico obtained independence from Spain, and California became a part of the new nation.
In the following decades, California witnessed the war between Mexico and America. The end of the war also witnessed California becoming a state in America. Congress passed the California statehood act on September 9, 1850. The following years saw the Gold Rush and large-scale settlements in California filled with dreams of gold and riches. In the following years, California became an important state, and it still is today.
California Dreaming on such a winter’s day. The Mamas & the Papas
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Cap and Patti