“Waking Up to California”

“All these impressions struck Skylar at once. Just the sight of the girls playing volleyball on the beach conveyed the totality of this understanding to him. And no playwright could have scripted this first glimpse of California better than fate had. To drive in at night—the darkness assuring that even the two boys still awake could tell nothing of the magnificence of the place—and to awake in the glare of day maximized the impact of seeing the Pacific Ocean and California for the first time. They had not gotten hints of the ocean: scents of salt air carried inland and scalloped hems of coastline seen from many miles away; nor had they been gradually enlivened by the sight of pretty blondes on bicycles and of cars with surfboards strapped to their roofs. Instead, the full force of the Golden State had been saved for one first amazed stare and compressed into one all-powerful image. The staging proved so effective that Skylar would never forget it (and California would never lose its preeminent place in his heart) for the remainder of his life.”