"About this time I guess you figured out about Florida"
- Gibby Haynes from Moving to Florida, track 10 on the Butthole Surfers CD, Rembrandt Pussyhorse -

Yes, Gibby, I have. As Californians from the San Francisco Bay Area my beautiful wife and me have, perhaps, never made so big a mistake as when we moved to Florida nearly two years ago. There were various factors that led us out of California and into Orlando - cheaper cost of living, tropical climate, and (I am a bit embarrassed to admit) Disney World . I have been a life time fan of Disney theme parks (An important point here - I am not a complete Disney fan by any means) and when the opportunity arose to live within spitting distance of the sprawling theme park complex known as Walt Disney World, well, I jumped at it.

It surprised my wife - henceforth referred to as Sarah - and myself to discover that we were homesick. More to the point, perhaps, to discover that we are Californians.I know that I never expected to identify myself with any particular geographical location and I admit that I'm not sure what it even means to say that I am a Californian. But I am. Even here in Orlando I am a Californian. It is a state of mind, I suppose, as much as it is a state of the union. This, I suppose, is why after almost two years we still feel like transplants in Orlando.

Of course, as Buckaroo Banzai says "Wherever you go, there you are." This is true and Sarah and me could be happy just about anywhere. But, after leaving the Bay Area, we have come to realize that places have Spirit - comprised, I think, of any given localities own geographical and "spirtual" qualities and the nature of the people who inhabit that given locality. Florida is not without it's charms - most of which come from the Natural character of the place. I often sense a kind of primal wildness about the state, despite the stamp of civilization that is upon it. It is the spirit of the people, however, especially here in Orlando, that we find to be counter to our own. We have little or nothing in common with most of the folks here. This may seem an irrelevant statement when it is considered that the two of us are completely self contained and rarely even socialize with others. But, as I say, the population creates a Spirit and most of the people here are not like us in terms of values and interests in general.

We considered, when we realized that we could not tolerate Orlando for the rest of our lives, re-re-locating to New Orleans - a city that we have vacationed in many times over the years. It was considered when we were first planning our southernly migration but, for the silly reason mentioned above, we chose Orlando. Why New Orleans? In many ways it is similar to the SF Bay Area, and like the SF Bay Area it is unlike any place in the US if not on the planet. It is, perhaps, one of the most unAmerican cities in terms of that Spirit I mentioned above. Certainly in terms of the architecture in the old French Quarter. I think that rather than fumble about here trying to describe this wondeful city I will quote for you a paragraph or so from a book I recently read. The book is called Inventing New Orleans, writings of Lafcadio Hearn . Hearn is much better known for his groundbreaking work and life in Japan. He lived, however, for ten years (1878-1888) in New Orleans prior to going to Japan and wrote quite a lot for a couple of the local newspapers. His work, so the editor of this volume claims, is largely responsible for the general Idea of New Orleans that persists to this day (a sensuous city, a carefree city, a wicked city, a mysterious city). This book is a collection of many of those writings. Without further ado I will let Mr. Hearn take it from here. . .

"It is not an easy thing to describe one's first impression of New Orleans; for while it actually resembles no other city upon the face of the earth, yet it recalls vague memories of a hundred cities. It owns suggestions of towns in Italy, and in Spain, of cities in England and in Germany, of seaports in the Mediterranean, and of seaports in the tropics. Canal Street, with its grand breadth and imposing facades, gives one recollections of London and Oxford Street and Regent Street; there are memories of Havre and Marseilles to be obtained from the old French Quarter; there are buildings in Jackson Square which remind one of Spanish-American travel. I fancy that the power of fascination which New Orleans exercises upon foreigners is due no less to this peculiar characteristic than to the tropical beauty of the city itself. Whencesoever the traveler may have come, he may find in the Crescent City some memory of his home - some recollection of his fatherland - some remembrance of something he loves. . .

I find much to gratify the artist's eye in this quaint, curious, crooked French Quarter, with its narrow streets and its houses painted in light tints of yellow, green and sometimes even blue. Neutral tints are common; but there are a great many buildings that can not have been painted for years, and which look neglected and dilapidated as well as antiquated. Solid wooden shutters, painted a bright grass-green, and relieved by walls painted chocolate color, or tinted yellow, have a pretty effect, and suggest many memories of old France"

End quote. Even though Mr. Hearn wrote the above well over 120 years ago it could very easily describe the city today. But New Orleans, unique and wonderful city that it is, is not home. It is home that we are wanting and it is home that we are going. The end of March will see us packing all of our earthly belongings into a 15 foot truck and trekking across the US right back where we started from (San Francisco, here I Come!).

When California finally falls into the Pacific, we will be there.