Head West.

 

“When the lights go down in the city

And the sun shines on the bay

I want to be there in my city.

Up until leaving college, I had never been west of Kansas. The benefit back then of being that far west was being able to drink at age 18, and Coors was “bootlegged in” from Colorado. Two huge points when you are a freshman. I am happy to report I have moved forward.

I finally went to the west on a job interview. The company I ended up working for was based in Chicago, and we represented a company based outside of San Francisco who needed to approve me to be hired. All I remember about the trip was…it was a late night trip going out and a “red eye” coming back. Let’s just say the company I worked for was watching their dollars and I was young and could handle the loss of sleep. 

I went back west a few months later and received a kind of “luke-warm welcome from others who worked at the company. Because the company I worked for was independent, and controlled who was hired, I had one big negative. I was really young. I was probably10 years younger than the youngest sales person at the company, 20 years younger than those in management. Welcome to the business world!

Since these early visits I have been fortunate to see a lot of California; from LA to Palm Springs to Napa Valley and more, it truly is a golden state. Sure, they have had their issues…if you find earthquakes, fires and mudslides issues…but on a beautiful day, it’s tough to beat. 

One thing I wish, and it didn’t happen until many years later, I wish I was into photography. Had I been, I would have had a visual journal of seeing the many places I have visited.  A few years ago I went to what I swear was another planet in the state; I went to Death Valley. It was during the late fall so it was not hot, but it was sure unusual and barren—-but when you’re there you experience life and the mysteries behind it. 

The photo above was taken a few years ago on a trip to San Francisco. I had never been below the Golden Gate Bridge, only crossing it as a driver and above from the hills to the north. What I found amazing about being there at sunset was the sheer beauty of the west, and the fact that many hundreds if not thousands of workers built this masterpiece.

Thanks for stopping by.