Mom2

When the Southern Pacific train arrived with my Mom, me and Nana(my maternal grandmother)  in San Diego, we stayed with the leaders of my family's church for several weeks.  We finally found a duplex in Vista with a view of the ocean and moved into our new home. It was 1952 and I was four years old.

People were very different than in Seattle.  It was sunny all the time so people lived more outside than in because it was warm and hot. People acted very differently than in Seattle where I was born.  Also, we were quite near the border of Mexico so this was a completely different influence on the local culture than Canada was on Seattle. People from Canada were nice but they were also reserved like the English Culture they brought with them to Canada.  I had absorbed this polite reserve from the Seattle Culture which was just an American version of Vancouver and Victoria culture combined. However, San Diego was like coming to a different country entirely.  I had a hard time dealing with the changes even though I liked all the new more tropical plants and fruits to eat. As I got older, I liked pretty girls without much clothing on and the "Hollywood" culture of beautiful people, the movie industry and all that. I loved surfing, the uninhibited, free-wheeling lifestyle of the beach. I liked Southern California a lot. However, when we moved up to Los Angeles itself, there were just too many people, too much smog and not enough space to hear yourself think.

My mother missed her sisters terribly. She lasted about 6 months the first time before she made Dad take her home for a visit. I don't think she ever completely adapted to southern California and being away from her sisters in Seattle. But I adapted for better or worse to the most wide open cultural experience on earth. I learned to thrive in the "Southern California controlled chaos" of ultimate creativity and innovation.

Don't ever underestimate the innovative spirit of California. We eat, live and breathe change and innovation. Always have and always will.