Gratitude for your house or bedroom is typically at the top of the list when asked what you are thankful for each year. However, the beauty and perfection of the precious state in which we live is consistently overlooked. Although your economic class may restrict you to a certain town or place, it is important to recognize the beauty of the land all around. In California, there are many places in which just a short thirty minute drive can take you from your ordinary neighborhood straight to a cozy beach town. Vise versa, there is easy access to California’s Sierra Nevadas, which provide snow and winter sports come the coldest season of the year. Many Californians take for granted the temperatures that our state sustains year-round. To many bay area inhabitants, 40-50° Fahrenheit is the chilliest it gets, but people on the east coast experience frequent temperatures of 10-20° that are nearly impossible for us to imagine. During the spring months, California undergoes its most rainy season. A day with 0.04 inches of precipitation is scientifically considered a wet day; however, in many other states, it’s common to get several inches of rain per day. During the summer, California skies are clear, the poppies thrive, the smell of fresh-cut grass lingers in the air, and friendly people take evening walks. Come fall, high school spirit is high, and hitting one of the many In-N-Out drive throughs—unique to California—for a burger after a football game is a common occurrence. On top of that, the diverse population of ethnicities adds to the unique cultural exchange. In many California cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are blocks called Chinatown where Chinese culture is abundant and displayed for the public. Cities like San Jose are home to a majority of Vietnamese and Hispanic folk, who create and foster restaurants with the most delectable cuisine. Last but not least, California is home to the second longest highway in the US, at 656 miles long and stretching the coastline from above San Francisco down to Santa Monica. The pacific coast highway displays picturesque views of the ocean and beautiful California landscape which are easily accessible at almost every point in the golden state . If you ever get the chance to travel out of your home state or to the east coast you will surely be shocked by the ideal world we live in and it will deepen your gratitude for California!
