Defining the California Experience

How wonderful to revel in whatever it is that California is (“Welcome to the Elusive State,” by Peter H. King, Dec. 17). I was born in Oregon and am 75 now. When I was 9, my folks made a trip to Southern California and took me with them. I was hooked, and made up my mind to live here someday, with the wonderful orange groves and sunshine.

Today the orange groves are gone, but the sunshine remains. There also are great theaters, restaurants, museums, gardens and educational facilities. I love the dusty summer fields and the phenomenal blessing of rain in the winter.

On TV I hear unenlightened New Yorkers make contemptuous put-downs of the Los Angeles area. They just don’t get it. Southern California doesn’t exist to try to convince outsiders how great it is. It’s obvious why it’s a perfect home to those of us fortunate to live here.

Dorothy Frank

Garden Grove

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Oh, no! Not another let-me-try-and-explain-California story! For 150 years we have defied definition, and that, perhaps, is our greatest strength. We live inside a puzzle box. And that’s just the way we like it. To those who require a way out of their “State of Confusion,” I respectfully invite you to return to your former “State of Certitude.” You’ll know exactly where you are, but it won’t be any fun!

Carol Nahin

Palm Desert

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Like King, I have lived in California all of my life, and I found that his piece resonated with my own experience. He does not gush about her, as the transplants who feel they must justify their move do. He does not condemn her, as out-of-state writers with thinly veiled envy do. Instead of attempting to “define” California, King simply treats her with reverence and awe. California is as elusive for me as it is for King. I do not understand her, but my feelings are deep. It is that feeling on a highway in a Godforsaken desert, when I see the sign “Welcome to California,” and I know I have returned home.

Steve Mills

Glendale