Different? - Visit California

Even though my husband lived there for 1 year or more, I found myself 40+ years old having never set a foot in the state of California. He was itching to show me the area. I’d read somewhere that, according to some public opinion poll, California is the most disliked state. (Hawaii is the most loved.) And, I’ll admit it: I had preconceived negative notions about the state. I came prepared to dislike it but, upon visiting, I found that it really had a charm. I could certainly understand the attraction. I’m not saying I’d like to live there, but if you like “diverse,” if you like “different” California practically owns it.

Why the hatred? Some theorize it is its left-leaning politics. That could be why it looked okay to me from my own port list.

CA attracts practically every ethnicity in the world. And in its terrain, you’ll find mountains, fertile farming areas, flatlands, hills, and breathtaking ocean shores with soft sandy surfing beaches and rugged rocky coast. For climate, they have both desert heat and snow (simultaneously) with Death Valley and Mount Whitney, the lowest and highest points in the contiguous 48 states. They have “wine country”, the Sequoias, the Redwoods, Yosemite, the Channel Islands, Joshua Tree Park. And how apt is having the Hollywood Walk of Fame right near the La Brea Tar Pits?

Their state song is “I Love You, California,” which begins with “I love you, California, you’re the greatest state of all.” I read the lyrics and hokey thought they be, I could see where the lyricist was coming from. And I’ll forgive the line in the chorus that reads: “Every breeze bearing rich perfume.” Written in 1913, she obviously never drove on today’s LA freeways.

Anyway, what brought me to this train-of-thought is those dad-blasted California Real Milk commercials they play on television here in America’s Heartland. If you haven’t seen them, let me tell you that it is a series of TV ads that portray bucolic scenes of sun-bathed, serene California cows happily munching away, contrasted with miserable-looking Midwest cows shivering in driving snowstorms. The ads go on to say something like “would you like your milk from happy California cows or from stressed-out Wisconsin cows?”

I’m not sure why these ads get my goat (pun intended), but they do. I’d love to see the Wisconsin dairy marketers run my ads, which would picture California cows fleeing in fear from the earthquakes, wildfires, and landslides. (And now that I think of it those rolling power blackouts would have to impact those robotic milking machines.)

But, leave my Heartland out of this!