The Golden State

California is the Golden State. It's an apt nickname, for many reasons. Historically, of course, this is the place where gold was discovered in January of 1848 in the small foothill town of Coloma. Within a year, the California Gold Rush was on, triggering a massive migration of immigrants from around the world as well as emigrants from the East who came in wagon trains across the Plains and over the Rockies and the Sierras. These were arduous journeys made at great sacrifice. For those who sailed into San Francisco, they endured sometimes brutal conditions in steerage for months as they made their way around Cape Horn or through the perilous Straits of Magellan and then north for thousands of miles before reaching California. And for those who came from the East Coast across the broad continent, they endured brutal hardship, the constant danger of attack by various Native American tribes through whose land they were traveling, as well as disease and crushing fatigue. Many did not survive. In the ten years from 1850 (when California was admitted as the 31st state) to 1860, California's population nearly quadrupled, and the great social migration from East to West began. This migration, this amazing social phenomenon, has continued unabated for more than 150 years, making California the largest and most vibrant state in America.

A second reason California is the Golden State has to do with economic opportunity.  Despite our overwhelming economic difficulties which have pushed the state to near-bankruptcy, California is still the home of Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the high tech revolution and still the most robust and powerful engine of technological prowess in the world. It's the home of the San Joaquin Valley--the richest agricultural region in the world--and the home of some of the most diverse agriculture anywhere. This year, California will produce more than 350 different crops, much of which will be exported to other nations and will thereby help to offset America's continuing trade imbalance. And California is home to Hollywood and the film industry--an icon which is small compared to high tech and agriculture--but which also contributes to a fourth major industry here--tourism. I have been fortunate enough to visit 47 of the 50 states (I still have not been to Alaska, North Dakota, or Delaware) during my lifetime. And I can say that in a nation blessed with an astounding abundance of natural beauty, California stands alone for its jaw-dropping diversity of beautiful places--from our 840-mile long coastline to our majestic and rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range to our beautiful cities including San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and many others to the rich and pristine Napa and Sonoma Valleys where some of the world's best wines are produced to our climate which Sir Francis Drake called 'the most sublime and gentle in all the world'.

The third reason we're the Golden State is that we're largely a natural desert. Except for the extreme northwestern part of the state near the Oregon border, most of the state will not see rainfall from roughly early April until sometime in October. The winter rains, which have been plentiful this year, have left us in a state of lush verdure--something we especially appreciate since we know it will soon give way to the dry season. The green foothills will turn brown (or, as the Chamber of Commerce likes to say--"golden") and the beauty we see around us will fade until next fall.

But for now, we'll enjoy this spectacular beauty. The wildflowers are bursting forth in the foothills. And around the beginning of May, the winter snows will be melting and the waterfalls at Yosemite will be booming. It is an utterly beautiful time of the year.