When i Think of California...

Most of us have probably played word association games: One person will state a noun, verb, or adjective and we have to state the first thing that comes to mind. When the name California is mentioned, two things always come to mind for me. The first would be palm trees. And for some odd reason, I always associate palm trees with Sacramento and Vallejo. Why those two places? Well, if memory serves correct, the avenues lining the way to the state capital in Sacramento are lined with palm trees. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, such foliage is an oddity. It would be like strolling across a baobab tree in a field of wheat in Ohio; out of the ordinary.

The other thing that comes to mind when I hear the word California is gold miner. Well, technically that is two words, but I will count it as a noun phrase and thus as a unit of one. And in my mind, I like to think that all Californians look like this. From as far north as Weed to all the way down to San Diego, I am certain that all Californians have been out gold panning and have some hidden claim on a river somewhere. Even the fancy Hollywood types have a hidden supply of flannel and denim that they pull out for prospecting.

There was a long period of time, be for the hipster influx to Portland, were the vast population of the United States thought that everyone in Oregon was a logger and wore flannel all year long. And, well, for a long time, people did wear flannel all year long. In fact I have mostly flannel shirts in my closet. Alas, I don't have an axe or chain saw.