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I've landed in California after another 2 years in Africa and, once again, I find there are so many things to love. For starters, I love the city of Pasadena, Southern California's only "real" city, if you ask me. It's old enough to have a little history. Pasadena has real trees with old roots and a spectacular city hall. I love the affordable dining-out in this state, the crazy way the mountains almost touch the sea, the sense that anything can happen. I love that people buy flowers and eat fruit and want to be informed, concerned and relevant.
I tiptoe into the my areas of concern because I really don't want to sound as if I'm judging. I just can't help being surprised by certain things during this month that we've been back. So let's call this my short list of surprises.
I am surprised by how few people I know have a laundry line. With all this sunshine, I am surprised that dryers are in constant use and that no one seems to think twice about this.
I am surprised by how poor the public transport situation continues to be. The idea that it would take me 2 hours on the train to get from Pasadena to Long Beach is ridiculous. How many commuters or tourists would opt for that? I am surprised that we don't demand better and live cleaner.
I am surprised by packaging... HUGE INSIDIOUS packaging that hogs the space in landfills and fills my bins so quickly after only a few purchases. I am surprised that, as concerned citizens, Californians aren't telling the retailers we they don't want all that plastic.
I am surprised by the green lawns. Don't get me wrong, the green lawns are lovely. But I am surprised that we're still living in the delusion that Southern California is a lawn kind of place. Southern California is semi-desert, friends. Those green lawns represent our denial of reality. I am surprised how few people are opting for the beautiful, sustainable desert garden options.
I am surprised by how few students and young professionals ride their bikes for their daily transport needs. Again, all this glorious weather means that getting around without a car should be one of our favorite ways of reaching our destinations. If the Dutch(of all ages) can bike through rain, snow, sleet and hail, surely Californians can leave their cars parked at home a little more often.
I am surprised that public places don't provide recycling trash bins on a regular basis. When we finished our picnic in the park the other night, there was only one trash receptacle to leave our garbage in. I took our recycling home but thought fondly of the public bins throughout Europe that include separate containers for glass, plastic, paper and "other."
Seriously, I'm not interested in judging this place. I don't even set myself apart as holier than my neighbors. I love California and am proud to be a Californian (even if I'm gone most of the time.) I'm just surprised that we aren't living up to our reputation as crazy tree hugging nut-cases and leading the way in Creation care.
We can do better than this, California. I'm sure we can. We're still nuttier than most :-)
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Comments
Ah, yes, I know what you're feeling. One thing, however, that I've observed in our quirky, fabulous and sometimes maddening state is that we tend to define California by the two unwieldy hubs of activity: SoCal and the Bay Area. In many parts of the state, however, there is a small town sensibility, a different sort of connection to the earth. In the San Joaquin Valley there's always been this agricultural respect, and I think we're doing some really good things in terms of sustainability. The materialism and self-absorption of those two populated hubs has always felt oppressive to me, but there I go judging . . . You're a better model of grace than I am!
Caroline, thanks for reminding me of the small-town feel of those non-hub areas. I agree that they model something very different and we can be proud of them. I think of my friend whose family has farmed in Salinas for a few generations and I remember that the feel on their farm is refreshingly connected to reality :-) I admit to defining California by SoCal and that's a very limited view.
I am delighted by this post. I sympathize with the tiptoeing impulse, but I hope Californians begin stamping their feet about these things.
The sea air cools and refreshes LA, which in turn chokes the Inland Empire with its smog. Water is channeled down from NorCal to flood what is naturally a desert. Southern Californians still water their silly green lawns during the heat of day and a state-wide drought, while folks in SF collect the water from their showers. The pavement sprawls outward for still more cheap architecture and SUVs, sucking far too much fuel and and far too much air-conditioning. How is it that there are a gazillion more bicycles in rainy Portland?
Reader,
It is a sad state of affairs that those of us in SoCal don't recognize the real privilege we have of a pleasant climate and give back a little to the rest of the world by being more responsible. The issues can be called complex and there are a lot of mistakes, greed and ugliness in the past that put things in place for how they are today HOWEVER, it's never too late to begin to set things right. It begins at home when we remember to turn off lights, take shorter showers, re-think our watering habits etc. From home, we can build a landslide of change.
Just for fun, here's nature writer Edward Hoagland quoting John Muir, a lover of the edenic California he knew:
“When California was wild, it was one sweet bee-garden throughout its entire length,” he wrote with yearning. “Wherever a bee might fly within its bounds of this virgin wilderness…throughout every belt and section of climate up to the timber line, bee-flowers bloomed in lavish abundance.” Wistfully he proposed that all the state might be developed into a single vast flower palace and honey hive to the continent, its principle industry the keeping, herding, and pasturing of bees.
A dreamy idea. I've often tried to imagine the California that Muir saw.