Why I Live In San Diego

[QueenOfCalifornia]

Over the last week I have been told I am "stupid." I am an "idiot" I am "stealing from the rest of the country." One would think I was a REPUBLICAN.

Just let me explain... One last time:

We as humans gravitate to where we grow up. I took all the pictures, in this post, in San Diego.



I have lived all over the world but I keep coming back HOME. I met my husband here and he feels it is HOME. Anyone should get this...
We want to be where we feel the most at home. I was born in Los Angeles. I grew up in S. CA. I graduated from SDSU.

I wish I could say I have all sorts of friends from my childhood here.. that is not the case. My family (parents etc)? Dead and gone. But I moved back here in '87 from N. CA -
It is like some magnet pulling me back. Just like - if you were to grow up on the island of Santorini, you would know that you are on the edge of an active volcano but it is HOME.



It calls you. It is the feel, the food, the people. It is knowing all the back roads to everywhere. It is an odd comfort that I can not explain intellectually. I can only say it is a feeling. I love California. The canyons. The mountains. The ocean. I love the way the sun looks when it is 20º above the water and a yellowish glow begins. I love the moody grey blue sky in Yosemite. I love the cloudless Septembers and the green of June. I feel like I am walking through a Steinbeck novel when I drive into Monterey. I Love the little town in the central valley where my husband grew up. I love the rich Mexican heritage that is shared with us and the Spanish architecture. I love driving up to Julian on a crisp Fall day and eating a slab of Julian apple pie while watching the world pass by. I love the wine country to the north and I love driving Highway 49 through the gold rush country. California is my home. It is just as much home as where you grew up. It would be like telling a Hawaiian to leave the slopes of the volcano because it will someday erupt. We live with the obvious because we are home.

You may never understand why we stay when we are faced with fire, drought and earthquakes.

But because I live through the crap I live through... i really understand why you live where you live ... It must feel like home to you.

[hfojvt]

1. I cannot understand, why if you are from southern California

that you went to South Dakota State University. Was it for their ag program? Because really USD is a much better school.

Me, I sorta roam from town to town, trying to find a job and/or a woman.

However, once I was being considered for a job I thought I would really love - statistician for the US Department of Agriculture. Then they told me the job would require a move to California. Suddenly I was no longer interested in the job.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

2. I went to

San Diego State (are you fucking with me?)

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Fellow aztec here

as it were...

[liberalnurse]

22. I sense the poster was sincere.

OOPS! You may want to send a PM apology.:blush:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

27. Okay....

I'll do that!

[liberalnurse]

46. My heart goes out to you..........

I know the emotional stress of the inferno must be heavy.....I feel that way sometimes even without the disaster.....I immediately related to your "moment".

Here ya go! :hug: :pals:

[lligrd]

42. I Don't Know If The Poster Was Sincere Or Not

but that had me rolling. :rofl:

[hfojvt]

64. not before the first date

more like 'funning' with you.

Logically, since San Diego is not a state, there can be no "San Diego State University". It should be CSUSD. (or it could be like New York's SUNY disposition, but that idea kinda SUCs for California.) As a native South Dakotan, clearly, SDSU can only mean one thing. The dreaded South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, (n.b. it is not called Brookings State University) hated rivals of the USD Coyotes. Go 'Yotes!!

I appreciate your attachment to your home, since I have the same sort of attachment. Except I thought I could put roots down anywhere. The other part of that USDA job I didn't like was the deliberate rootlessness that was built into it.

[Tafiti]

13. Why didn't you give it a shot?

Sounds like a good job, and I hear there are plenty of women in California. ;) If you didn't like it, you could've just moved back after awhile.

Sometimes change is good, especially drastic change. Ever wonder what it would've been like? Just curious.

[bridgit]

45. i have no i-damn-dea what you're referring to, i'm UCLA alum...

none :shrug: i do know folks that were statistician' for the F&D, but they were pleaded out on a cocaine rap years & years ago, no one i know works for the u.s. government willingly cept a mathematician i know from SD, that calculates ICBM trajectories for the DoD though as mentioned is a mathematician and is kinda peculiar at their base anyhow so again...

:shrug: and for *that* matter i'm from NorCal so go figure :headbang: why? you got somethin in your head sideways about Calif :rant:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear Gilligan...

You have every right to live in San Diego...

It's a beautiful area, as is most of California!

I don't fully understand how these things work, but we do know when we're home...

And you are, sweetie...

:hug:

K&R

[QueenOfCalifornia]

4. Jeebus Peggy...

I love you.

[IndianaJones]

5. if its so great, why go to college in Delaware? nt.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

8. BwaaaaHaaaa!

:rofl:

[IndianaJones]

10. I was gonna put Detroit, but that would have been too cruel. nt.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

16. Dear Indiana

I know your humor. Thank Jeebus. I appreciate a sense of the crazy legs. :rofl:

[fizzgig]

7. your heart knows where home is

and that is the important thing

thank you for sharing your home with us

[frylock]

9. great shots and a wonderful sentiment..

I hope you and your family are safe.

Go Jacks!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

12. Thanks

We are all fine. This time. We live just N. of the Q off of Aero. Today my kids were back playing in the street and people were over having a glass of wine.

Thanks for the kind sentiment.

[aquart]

21. But how's the air in that street?

At Rancho Penasquitos, my sister and her husband are wheezing, and she says she feels like there's gravel on her teeth.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

32. We are okay

here! I had the AC on for 4 days with all the windows shut. I wouldn't let anyone but me out of the house until today. it was very clear here (The offshore breeze was blowing back inland) and so all the crap was going back... I felt very sad for my friends in East County when I drove to the grocery store and saw the brown/grey/yellow shit in the sky..

But... it was okay here... really. We are protective of the little uns.

Thanks for asking though.

(we had the gravel too but it was gone today... really.)

[frylock]

24. mission trails here..

peace.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

33. Drinks?

Lets get together... We are close. PM me.

[itsrobert]

63. I live off Aero Drive too. But Military Leased Housing

Not bad. Luckily I didn't rent or buy off base because Poway and other areas in fire danger was the areas we were looking at.

[begin_within]

11. All of the following pictures were taken within San Diego county:

In what other county can you go surfing in the morning, drive 1 hour and go cross-country skiing on natural snow, then drive one more hour and watch wildflowers bloom in the desert? This is possible sometimes in March without ever leaving San Diego county.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Bautiful shots

[QueenOfCalifornia]

15. You know Bob

That I love your photos.

We will have to have a drink together sometime soon.

Peace.

[begin_within]

17. I didn't take ANY of those photos myself, but thanks.

[Fleshdancer]

18. You would have to be stupid NOT to fall in love with San Diego

I finally went to SD two weeks ago. I spent a full week there and fell in love instantly. The people are wonderful. Sure, you can praise the restaurants, the landmarks, the beach, and the weather but at the end of the day, it's the people that make it so incredible.

The fires in SoCal started 2 days after I left. I can't stop watching the coverage and it breaks my heart. If anyone has anything negative to say about you or where you come from, it's probably because they've never been there since it's easy to pass judgment on places and people you know nothing about.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

19. And to think

you didn't even get to meet ME!

(I know what you are saying.)

Why were you here?

Damn I hate when I don't meet the right people! Why didn't you call?????

[Fleshdancer]

26. 2 days of business, 5 days of bliss

My company hosted a two-day event in San Diego. Since this was my first time in the city, I took the liberty of spending the rest of the week there. Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to reach out to DUers in the area prior to arriving. In my defense, I was crazy busy planning the corporate event and I didn't have time for much else prior to arriving.

I love your city and my heart goes out to everyone there. :hug:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

28. Come on back

really...
give me a while... I need to sweep up this shit... looks like ash.

[begin_within]

25. It does have its disadvantages though:

Extremely expensive to live here
Crowded, long lines, heavy traffic, noise
Earthquake and fire risk
Very right-wing county (although city is somewhat liberal)
Corrupt government, massive public debt

Otherwise, it's pretty nice.

[qnr]

20. Enjoy :) ... me, I think San Diego, and horrible memories of Refresher Training pop up heheh n/t

[QueenOfCalifornia]

23. We have MANY

military people here... (no surprise) Most of these people are of the red variety - they see no evil and speak no evil and really never hear anything at all.

I have been told that I am a commie because i have certain bumper stickers...

Oh well....

I hope you can come back and enjoy our city without the training!

[qnr]

34. Oh, I'm out now, no worry about training. Actually, Mrs. qnr lived in SD for

many years.

[Hekate]

29. For about 50 years most of my mom's family lived in San Diego, raised my cousins there...

One of my last uncles passed away this summer, and as my husband and I drove home from the funeral in the dark I found myself talking about this phenomenon, how during my life they were all there, and now my mom's generation is gone and nearly all my cousins have scattered to other places with their own kids. I wonder when or if there will be reason to return now--but who can say.

Because of the relatives I visited there many times, and though I never saw all that San Diego county had to offer I know it is a beautiful and complex place. I especially loved my grandma's Craftsman cottage on the corner of Goldfinch Street. I think I could still find it in my dreams -- don't I have to get off on Washington? Only a few blocks away is one of the canyons that cleaves through the city -- in another direction is (or was) a district so filled with doctors they called it Pill Hill. Aunt Mickey took to rockhounding for opals in the desert -- of all of them she may have loved San Diego the way you do. One summer in my late teens I got to spend a couple of weeks at a relative-of-a-relative's house on the beach in Oceanside; I still have the rocks I collected from the beach, and when I hold them I can still hear how melodious they sounded when the waves tumbled them over.

You let us into your home a little tonight. We love our homes. People who refuse to understand that simple fact are fools.

I'm glad you are safe. :hug:

Hekate

[Hekate]

30. P.S. Gilligan: I'm sending this to the Greatest page

:hi:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

35. OH MY GOD

I used to live very close to your Grandma - Goldfinch is a street that runs N to S and crosses
Washington Street in Mission Hills. I used to live On First and Washington. Just a couple of blocks from your Grandma.

Back in the daze.

I love your post... Thank you.

[Hekate]

69. Corner of Goldfinch and Bush.I didn't realize how many memories I have of SD until that conversation

...with Mr. H. They just kind of unrolled as we traveled the freeway in the dark. I thought Walkers would "always" be there, but the timeline that comes to me is WWII onward, just my mom's generation that's now nearly passed. Now there's just the one cousin and his family in the area (a Walker on his mother's side like me, so that's not his name).

Stay safe,

Hekate

[earth mom]

31. California is beautiful & you can't beat the weather. But I'm SO glad I moved away from it 10 years

ago!

California is too expensive, there are too many people and overbuilding is absolutely ruining the place.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

36. Oh.. I do understand

We may have to leave too. It is far too expensive for our upcoming retirement. But when i think of moving... i think of moving to places just as expensive...

I am a sick love monkey... I want to move to Hawaii. I want to move to The central coast of CA. I want to live in Nevada City CA (I used to live there. In fact, I had a house burn down there... Oops!) I want to live in all kinds of expensive places. Damn!

But... I love it here.

[earth mom]

41. My heart got broken in Lake Tahoe...loved it, couldn't afford it, left and never went back.

That's when I learned that there are lots of beautiful places in this country that are far more affordable and far less crowded.

As they say when one door closes, another opens. I love where we live now and would never have landed here if it were not for Tahoe.


BTW-I hope you find your dream locale...and that it is not overpriced! :hi:

[nosmokes]

37. I spent over twenty years in San Diego and while I love the place,

the population more than doubled in that period of time and was on it's way to doubling again before me and my SD native(a very rare species)wife decided we just couldn't take it anymore and moved North. But I made gobs o money on real estate in San Diego that I don't think I coulda made anywhere else. I worked my ass off and it probably added to the stress and strain that contributed to the break-up of my first marriage, but it is a gorgeous corner of the planet and you simply can't beat the weather. But it's also a desert and basically is a completely unsustainable community. And really, if you look at the greater metropolitan area, in truth it begins down on the Baja Peninsula about fifty miles South of the Border in the outskirts of Ensenada and w/ the exception of the Marine base at Camp Pendleton it's pretty much continuous Metro Sprawl along the Coastal strip until you almost reach San Simeon, home of the Hearst Castle and near to Big Sur. It's just hundreds and hundreds of miles of California chain store cookie cutter madness.No mass transit. No Downtowns. Just hundreds of square miles of suburbia.It's a phenomena.

AS lovely as SoCal is though, NoCal wins the beauty contest for my money. on Architecture and nature.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

38. Whoa there!

I am too tired to take this on right now... I agree with maybe 60% of your post but... Like I said... I will try and revisit this in the manana...

Peace...

[begin_within]

54. You're right, northern California does have better scenery:

although it's more spread apart and not all in one county. But there's a lot more water in northern California! And it's generally more liberal.

[Gelliebeans]

39. As a fellow So. Californian

You wrote what I feel.

Thanks for a beautiful picture of home.

:hug:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

65. Oh!

Gelliebeans. I hope your father is doing well. Thanks.

[lligrd]

40. I COuldn't Wait To Get Away From The Town I Grew Up In

And here I am back in it and loving it. Home does draw you back and CA is a great place to live.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

43. I went through

the same thing. I had to get away... I did not want to see my gawd-awful family... I came back over and over and over.

I am not saying I will not leave again. I am saying...

It is my home right now.

[jillan]

44. San Diego is one of my favorite places in the world.

Originally from Chicago - we were going to move there ('72- back when it was affordable :() - but instead ended up in Phoenix.

Whenever I want to get away, it's San Diego for me. My favorite thing to do is go to Coronado Island and walk around, eat lunch on the patio of the Del overlooking the ocean. I think about sitting there, looking out at the ocean whenever I need to relax.


I have so many great memories of long weekends in San Diego.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

47. As an Australian living outside of the US

Let me just extend my thoughts, prayers, best wishes and sympathies to you and your family and all those affected by this horrendous tragedy

I visited San Diego four years ago -have a cousin who lives there. I really enjoyed every minute of my time there -the beautiful beaches, the friendly people, the lovely environment, the whole wonderful atmosphere. I enjoyed the bars and restaurants we visited and the views we saw. Can't wait to go back, whenever that may be

My heart aches for Sani Diego. It is particularly painful for me because I know the devastating impact that fires can have because we experience horrible bushfires on an increasingly alarming frequency during summer. My grandparents lost their holiday house during an outbreak of fires two decades ago. The fires come precariously close to where I live almost every year that our family has lived there. I've seen the impact, the devastation, the fear and the grief that are the legacy of these horrible fires and I've seen how rapidly they spread despite the best efforts of firefighters to contain them. It's so unbelievably sad

I hope it all eases up soon. Summer is around the corner here and I am NOT looking forward to it

[Gelliebeans]

48. Is your fire season

at the beginning of the summer or is it worse towards the end?
I have a friend in Perth but I haven't talked to her in a couple of years.

The winds have died down here in San Diego and that will allow the firefighters to get a better control over some of these blazes. They are predicting that it might be Novemeber before we have 100% containment.

You are so right about the devastation.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

49. Usually from the beginning to about the middle of summer

This year we had our first fire outbreak a few weeks ago. It usually gets really bad during November-January and eases toward February as we head toward autumn. I don't know what Perth is like weather-wise or fire-wise

[bridgit]

50. That's very sweet, but it's really not a problem; people in SD are gah-ZILLIONAIRES!!

They drink Starbucks coffee ladled into tiny little Austrian crystal sipping vessels from Mother of Pearl swimming pools by people from Oaxaca, and eat warm/fresh Jewish bagels with thin sliced, mountain river fresh lox & Philly cream cheese shipped all the way from Switzerland that have been stored in lightly chilled, solid gold, ruby encrusted bank vaults with strange little symbols & number sequences that only filthy rich rich people even ever think about :)

[sandnsea]

51. California is a beautiful state

I'd be inclined to move back if the housing weren't so expensive and it weren't so populated. I like sparse. Home to me is Montana, but it's too cold for my husband's illnesses. There's some pretty bad fire seasons there too though. I think some people just forget that their neighborhood used to be wild lands too.

[bridgit]

52. Montana is a beautiful state, and you are most correct...

while we still have our wilderness' here & there, the whole country is growing, my husband remembers riding horse through the reeds in the river bottoms of Los Angeles long before they were ever concreted over :):(

[yoyossarian]

53. San Diego is THE most beautiful place I have EVER lived!

I miss it terribly, even though I only lived there about 8 months, a good 20+ years ago...

Bush and his miserable minions would let it all burn if they could... and George would himself play the fiddle the entire time, if he could--but of course, he can't. That would require a modicum of intelligence at the very least.



http://steponnopets.com/peo">President Evil Online has risen from the grave!

[silverlil]

55. I will take the bite

I have lived here for 40 years - Aero Drive, then you are not too far away from Tierrasanta where I live.
I see San Diego now as one big parking lot, and I do want to leave, this latest fire was the nail in the coffin for me. We have had no rain for 2 years, and none is forecast so to speak for this winter. As I have said, I have lived here a long time and we have had our dry spells, but nothing like the last few years. It is your town of birth, and my grandson was born here, but he does not live here either, he cannot afford it.
Everything will be for sale after this latest fire and I dont know about house insurance, perhaps we will wind up like Florida (with a different problem).
I like your view and pictures, but what about the Manchester deal downtown - in December our Navy turns it over to him and I do not see the native San Diegans crying about it - I am. I hate the Petco Park, downtown San Diego is ugly now, nothing has been planned - just land grabs by developers, and Manchester is going to build more hotels and shops and giving the Navy one spot out of the fucked up deal compliments of Hunter and the crooks starting with Susan Golding who initiated this back in her time in office - Manchester will sue the hell out of us if we try to back out of it. That woman destroyed has San Diego with this and her deal with the chargers. Why cant we have a Sydney type harbour, a landmark - anything on the west coast other than the golden gate bridge in SF - something, other than hotels on this LAST piece of shore. End of story.

[babylonsister]

56. You're very lucky to live in a place you love, Gilligan; don't let anyone

tell you otherwise. I don't, so I'm envious.

[watercolors]

57. I had the great opportunity to spend time in your city

I fell in love with it. Spent many days in Balboa Park, the zoo ,many great resturants. WE spent our time exploring it all. I made sure I went every time my husband had business there. Trully love San Deigo! I can understand your feelings for it.

[Kahuna]

58. I've been to San Diego. It's beautiful!!! nt

[Ilsa]

59. A college professor told us that a huge % of people end up

settling down within only 75 miles of where they grew up.

[lonestarnot]

60. Explanation was not necessary.

:hug:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

61. Anyone who would say stupid shit like that to you is an idiot.

How are you stealing from the country? That's dumb. I think people just are so nervy and have no shame anymore. I don't know who raised these rude assholes, but I will tell you one thing, they are miserable people. I hope you're OK after the fires. And I'm glad you have found someplace that feels like home and you're happy there. Not everyone can say that.
Duckie

[itsrobert]

62. How are you (we) stealing from the rest of the country?

California gets back only 75 cents of every dollar in federal taxes we pay. A lot of the "Red States" get more federal money than they pay in taxes. This needs to be fixed.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

66. of course!

it is a myth. I have read some mean spirited posts in the DU over the last few days in which people believe it though.

[silverlil]

72. And the bay of San Diego

just asking how you feel about this ... December 2007 will be turned over to Manchester and this is no myth.

[RB TexLa]

67. The reason of "Because you want to" should be good enough

it's good enough for me.

[knitter4democracy]

68. My mom's dad lived there, my cousins live there, I totally understand.

Papa lived in Mission Viejo, if I remember right, in the trailer park on the ocean. He'd fly us out twice a year, and he started getting me koala stuff and paid for my junior membership in the San Diego Zoo. He'd take us to Old Town every trip, and I love San Diego. My family's there, and I've been so worried about my cousins (one of whom was evacuated, and we haven't heard from him since).

My aunt lived there for years, too, up in Temecula. All around where she took us and showed us around is all burned. It's hard to believe.

My mom grew up in the Valley, Rancho Cucamonga. Even though she's been in Michigan since 1967, she's still a Southern Californian at heart. She passed some of that on to me. San Diego has a special place in my heart, and I can understand why you live there.

[MindPilot]

70. Great post...my sentiments exactly

And awesome pix too!!

I would post some of my own but I'm spending the day building sifters for the people who have the unenviable task of going through their ashes.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

73. I lost everything

in a wildfire. It was in N. CA. That was about 15 years ago. I still get sick thinking about it.

You never realize all the things you have that can never be replaced until it happens. Every single family photo is gone. I have ZERO pictures of me as a child. I got a few from a relative but the quality is poor and nothing like the collection that burned.

I truly feel for these people. Thanks for helping.

[bigwillq]

71. Beautiful pics!

What a lovely place. :) :hi:

[question everything]

74. I love San Diego

When we lived in Orange County we would often go visit San Diego, we loved the feel of a small town and having Camp Pendleton was a barrier from the LA-OC sprawl.

Someday it may even be more of a purple than red.

Don't apologize to anyone. Florida and the Gulf Coast have their hurricanes, the Northeast have all the cold weather and snow and, apparently, coming expensive heating oil costs. The Midwest has the tornadoes and even drought at the beginning of the summer.