This was last night, down the street from my house.
This morning, December 26, we went running along the beach with our dogs, then did water retrieves with them. I just ate an heirloom tomato I picked from our vines on the back deck with some lunch we grilled outside. The dogs are resting in the sun and the back sliding door is open. It's about 70 degrees and sunny with wispy little clouds in the sky.
We can walk to the beach, but it's never humid like the East Coast. We don't have the bugs in the Summer, either. The surf is usually ridable, and surfing is a lot of fun, for those who haven't tried it.
There are public hunting areas owned by California DFG, as well as a lot of National Forest and BLM land, all in the county and a relatively short drive from my house. There's rock climbing, mountain biking and good hiking, even in the city limits.
The neighborhood is safe, we have good employment with a trivial commute. Traffic, at least where we go, is minimal, especially by big city standards.
Our pit bull wasn't hauled off to be killed because of her appearance here.
There are a number of good wineries, a short drive to the north, where we can taste and buy some great stuff.
I have had access to sports medicine resources without which I could barely walk at this point. As it stands, I'm in the best shape of my life at 41. The people who have helped get me there are here.
We don't have state-run liquor stores like many states in the West. A bottle of Maker's Mark is under $20 down the street from my house, not $27 like in Montana where I just went. There's stuff we can easily buy that isn't available in the state-run stores, too. Microbrew beer, inexpensive fine wines, etc. Private enterprise and competition, baby.
So yeah, California's gun laws, like 10 day waiting periods and 10 round magazines, can suck -- though our self-defense laws are actually better than many states', and we don't have some FOID or permit law just to buy a gun either. And unlike Michigan, we can shoot doves here.
But you know, I've been to a few places, and I wouldn't choose to live in most of them. I can have a pretty good time anywhere, for a while, and there are a few places I can really see moving to -- assuming I could make an equivalent living there, which isn't always a given. There are many places, though, where I sure wouldn't choose to live, not even so I can legally stuff a few more rounds in my 9mm.
There are sucky places in California, too, and I do wonder why people pay good money to live in them. But this ain't one.
Don't worry, it's all above board and legal. Oh but if you were to replace it without an insurance claim the bill comes to about $250. Something stinks here and this time it's not the refineries near Exit 14A.
