California Girl

I get asked this simple question a lot: "where are you from?"

I am always proud to say "born and raised in San Diego" every time I am asked.

Many times, the asker flashes a knowing grin or shakes his or her head.

Is it that obvious that I am a California girl?

What gives it away -- the fact that I sometimes say 'like" or "dude"? my laid back attitude? 

It can't be the tan (or lack thereof).

Traveling as much as I do, I ask other people this question a lot as well.

I am beginning to think this is a much deeper question than physical location.

Where you are from, in many ways, is who you are. How you were raised. What you value and believe.

I often tell people who are just meeting me "well, my parents were married on top of a mountain in 1970. That pretty much covers who I am."

Without my "hippie" parents and my Southern California upbringing -- I would be a totally different person.

Geography, as well as genetics, is powerful.

I will most likely never live anywhere else than San Diego and I don't have a problem with that. I'm pretty sure no one who ever had the chance to live here loves any place he or she has lived more.

I have been shaped by palm trees, ocean breezes and salt water.

By liberals and hippies and surfers. 

By parents who loved me for me.

By days and days of sunshine. By a wardrobe of shorts and flip flops. 

By endless beach days and gorgeous summer nights.

By the idea that sunsets are made to be watched and life can be lived slowly. 

All of these things make me who I am, a California girl.