California Sep 09

Just got back from two weeks in California, Having voted in the US elections that brought Obama to office, I was really excited to see what the atmosphere was like. It was two years and three months since the last trip for my cousins wedding and things had changed. The split between right and left is a gulf, the conservative media is in the grip of a paranoid mania, warping democracy with it's lies and exaggerations and poisoning any debate. The liberal media is too easily drowned out by this cacophony but then everyone pays attention when Obama speaks. All that rage is because people opposed to him seem so scared and young people love him. Hey he watches MTV and calls Kanye West a Jackass. I think there's still a lot of hope and belief that he can bring about some change.

That's the view from motel TV anyway. Visiting California is an intense personal experience for me, full of memories and family reunions. Seeing my old grandparents house in Davis where I spent summers growing up and now owned by strangers is a shock. But it smells the same and the figs growing there are just as sweet. Spent a lot of time retracing steps I would have taken with them, seeing some of their friends and eating, walking in the same places: The Co-op, arboretum, req pool.

Davis is basically an idyl, a liberal, bike friendly, sunny, healthy place with an active community and all those memories. It seemed a bit rougher around the edges and slightly more sun baked then I remembered it but I'm still satisfied.

The rest of California is just as mad as ever, from ridiculous wealth to street poverty, beautiful beaches, mexican food, a special kind of symmetry that you just don't get in the UK, and those huge expanses of wild space. Mountains, desert, trees and ocean. It's also incredibly friendly, patriotic and has plenty of my favourite Watermelons.

Here's s slideshow, click to view the images bigger....