in the land of always-summer

according to my father, when adam and eve got kicked out of paradise, california is the land they had to leave.

why are the hills so brown, i asked my brother, on our way from san francisco to my father's.

it hasn't rained, he said. it hasn't rained since april.

not since april? i blinked. i understand there are places where it seldom rains. i don't visualize those places as looking like this part of california, where the hills are brown and the houses are surrounded by vegetation lush as any eden.

then how come all these flowers and bushes look so green, i asked.

well, he said, looking a little like the guy who gives away the magician's secrets, there's a lot of irrigation.

see how golden the hills are, my father asked enthusiastically.

john says it hasn't rained since april, i said.

oh that's right, my father replied. it's always sunny - we never have to worry about a party getting rained out. we never worry about the weather.

that's pretty amazing, i agreed. coming from new england, where the only thing constant about the weather is its variablity, weather you don't have to worry about sounds absolutely paradisial. unless, of course, you consider mudslides, wildfires and earthquakes weather.

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.