And yet ...

My friends, it is easy to be mortified living in Cali-for-ni-yay, the state that cannot solve its own problems or maintain a minimal level of civilized decency in its support of public education, libraries, parks, etc. Then there's the creepy drought that's gonna cost a ton of money to fight fires later this year ...
And yet ...
And yet ...
Driving home today, I encountered yet more traffic that anecdotally indicates that Californians are working in increasing numbers. Last I checked, California on its own was still the 6th largest economy in the world. Despite all the figures about income disparity, lots of Californians (or their banks) still own pretty nice houses and cars - lots of them. The 49ers were a play away from going to the Super Bowl, and the Giants won the World Series. And driving home today it was the Grateful Dead (yes, from Northern California) playing Dark Star and peaking with Sugar Magnolia and Pigpen, destined to die of alcoholism a year later, pulling himself up to attack a savage Caution, and all was momentarily right with this world, and I was not embarrassed to have given 36 years of my life (yikes!) to the California dream.