Sprawling cities cut through the mountain ranges that spread out across the land. Low and high deserts to the coastal cliffs. Over three million acres of forest stretching up between it all. Dusty and desolate desert cities to the tree lined streets of Beverly Hills. The small towns surrounded by citrus groves to the squalor of Skid Row. This is Southern California. A region crowded and congested, yet filled with a vast wilderness. A land of urban decay and monied extravagance. A place filled with meth labs and mountain lions, rising rents and rattlesnakes, smog filled skies and scorpions. Southern California is a land of extremes and it is a land that I am glad to call my home.
Having lived in Chicago for over 30 years, this was not the California presented to me. I had a vague idea of beach bums, botox and Hollywood. Add in some 90’s era gangs, desperate dream seekers and the Sunset Strip and you have L.A as imagined by the rest of the world. It was certainly what I thought at the time. While working a miserable job in Chicago, driving a truck around the city through subzero winters and sweltering summers, the thought had never occurred to me to head to warmer climes. Despite a growing weariness with the cold grey climate, this was my home and the only one that I ever knew. But life had other plans for me.
With no thoughts of ever leaving my city, a rekindled romance would send me on a 2,000 mile journey to the place I now call home. I quit the job, packed up the cats into my rusted out Corolla and hit the road. After a beautiful three day drive across the U.S, I had arrived on a beautiful October evening in Los Angeles. I’ll never forget stepping out of that car and looking out at the palm trees swaying, feeling the cool coastal breeze on my face. I truly felt that I had arrived in paradise.
And I wasn’t wrong. In my first few weeks in town I saw Lana Del Rey perform in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, had a birthday celebration at the Culver Hotel, went on hikes in Griffith Park and a bike ride up the coastal trail. The next few months brought me to a night in Riverside, a weekend in Palm Springs, camping in Joshua Tree and a snow covered Christmas in Idyllwild. I could not believe the diversity of beauty that Southern California offered. The range of the natural landscape and places to see is really what sets it apart from anywhere else.
I eventually found employment as a merchandiser (essentially a traveling shelf stocker). The job offered me the opportunity to drive around the greater L.A area while working. I was able to see so many more places, from Montebello to Long Beach, Boyle Heights to Pasadena, Compton to Malibu and everything in between. I would work in Ventura County from the coast to the Santa Clara River Valley and all the way up to Ojai, just to stock snack foods at gas stations. I fell in love with all of these places and wanted to learn everything that I could about the geography and the history of Southern California.
No doubt, I have continued to read anything that I can get my hands on regarding Southern California. While it is often said that Los Angeles and its surroundings have no history or culture, that could not be further from the truth. From the Tongva to the Spanish missionaries and the Californios to the brutal arrival of the Americans. The citrus groves that covered so much of the land to old Hollywood and the post war San Fernando Valley, the history here could not be more fascinating. This is a unique and storied region that offers so much to discover.
These many years later, I have only scratched the surface of what Southern California has to offer. I am still at the same job, working while driving and exploring. It never gets old because there is always something new to see. While, like any locale populated with human beings, it does have its flaws; crime, traffic and a high cost of living, to name a few, the diversity of culture and geography is unparalleled. Southern California really does have something for everybody, you just need to know where to look. I will continue to spend my days driving these highways and backroads with no particular destination, always eager to find what hidden corner lies ahead.