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Article: Tarnished state: but California can shine again.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- November 23, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WHEN traveling far from California, I, like many residents of the state, still have a bad habit of marking off the days until I can return home. Even in its current mess, the weather, the optimism of the people, and the natural beauty are addictive.
Some of the attraction is based on nostalgia. Forty years ago I used to sit on my grandfather's porch after the end of the raisin harvest and hear the septuagenarian go on about the wonders of the state. He was of the third successive generation to be born in the farmhouse south of Fresno (where my son, of the sixth, now lives). My grandfather used to smile in the warm October breeze and, as he gazed over the fall ...