I miss California...

Going from the mess that is Dallas to the San Francisco bay area just reminded me of how much I miss my home state. I was born in San Diego and have always loved coming here, even when I was pissed off about aspects of it. Too damned expensive to live in. Gas prices are insane. Traffic is gnarly. But...

And this is a big BUT...

It's a state of dreams and moments of un-paralleled beauty you just can't find anywhere else.

Case in point, I flew into SFO at 6:45pm, last night, and got my minivan, then went to a Safeway close to the airport to get water, milk and edibles (including an amazing strawberry cheesecake that destroyed my blood sugar readings) and in the parking garage was an older man polishing a turquoise 1952 Chevrolet Belair coupe in perfect condition.

I'm not a fan of Chevys. I had a brutally traumatic experience in one and cannot divorce that from the car line. But this moment...under fluorescent lights that seemed to shine just right...it was so lovely I had to stop and ask if I could take a photo of him at work. He preferred I not, so I didn't. I just watched before going into the store. He was gone when I came out.

I miss those moments. I've never seen them, elsewhere. The closest I've come to this, with cars, was a parade of Minis in Brighton one Sunday, eight or nine years ago. A thousand of them, all years and models, passing by then lining up on the boardwalk, below.

If I could afford it, I'd move back, in a heartbeat.