Utopia

No single place in the real world is perfect.

I long to return to California, and I am now preparing for my return there. The fact that it's "home" produces an eternal magnetism for me. But my longing for California living is fickle. I have already as an adult twice moved away, and I could easily imagine myself doing so again someday (though David would prefer to settle down, and I must consider that). I'd pick living in the San Francisco Bay Area over anywhere else in the world if given only one choice, but I recognize that it's not Utopia.

While living in Texas I've often made comparisons to my home state, but that's not fair. When I moved to Texas I was lost. I knew no one here, felt like a fish out of water, and was regularly faced with a point of view that to me seemed narrow and limiting. But this did not make Texas a bad place, just an unfamiliar one. As I have lived here, as I've become involved in school and work and explored my neighborhood, I've found people and places that I treasure and will miss dearly when I leave. I could simply accept that I used to not like it and have grown to like it, but I feel there's a lesson here.

First the obvious one, which is that old cliche of absence making the heart grow fonder. In my case, California living is never sweeter than when I'm in residence elsewhere.

And second, a reminder I include here for my future reference, for when I find myself in that part of the world I never dreamed of (Beaumont, anyone?). Remember Michelle, there are delights to be found even in places you least expect them; it's your job to find them.

Finally, I post here a very interesting article in today's New York Times about an experimental farm community set up for Hurricane Katrina evacuees on former sugar cane fields in rural Louisiana. The wealthy guy who bought the land did so with a somewhat Utopian vision. Naturally reality has not been so idyllic, but I was excited to hear someone making an attempt. Perfection is not possible, but when we strive for it, we can reach higher than when we impose limits.