California Sky

On my way home from work yesterday I stopped to take some pictures of this old windmill.  We’ve been suffering through the last gasps of summer here in Southern California and she’s going out with a bang…a searing, suffocatingly hot bang.  As I shot the sky and felt the heat, however, I was reminded of a similar day 23 years ago when as a teenager I walked off a plane and felt a hot blast of air unlike anything I’d ever felt.  It was fall 1987 and I was beginning what would become my new life as a Californian.  It was never my intent to stay but California has a strange way of getting into your blood.

So here I am 23 years later photographing the same beautiful hot sky that bore me here as a young man.  Much is the same but far more has changed for me.  After enjoying the photography for a few moments last night I hopped in my car and made my way home.  I arrived to the warm embrace of my kids who were squeaky clean from a bath and smelled of bubblegum shampoo.  California is known for its scenic routes; it’s been said that Californians enjoy getting somewhere more than being somewhere.  The journey has been amazing but I didn’t really begin to enjoy the view until I picked up a few passengers.