A sense of peace has come over me...like a weight being lifted off my shoulders (shrug...). The examples, after a month, are numerous. People here are friendlier. I've only seen two self-indulgent, dangerous drivers. No crime seems to occur in my area. None. The air is so clean that the only thing blocking one's view is the mountain ranges. It's crystal clear. People speak their minds here. For years I remember being involved in conversations back in Cali where we would literally look over our shoulders before we spoke (vaccines, transgender...whatever topic...).

Yesterday I took my son to watch his first high school basketball game. His old high school had no sports. This was amazing. These kids are tough...this was the most physical basketball game I've ever seen. Lots of testosterone. These boys remind me of the boys I played football with back in the day. Totally different than the school we left. The mothers are beautiful and have a glow - just an observation from this red-blooded guy, haha. The kids were all smiling all the time. Before the game we all stood in silence during the national anthem. I'm not a very patriotic guy but I haven't done that at a high school event in years. I did give me son a heads-up before we arrived - there will be athletes in this school, and athletes are different. He gets all that now. This is good for him. Boys grow into men outside of California.

This area seems very Libertarian IMO. There is a strong marijuana industry right in town. Huge dispensaries. I don't touch the stuff - trying to keep whatever brain cells survived football. I've met several people who own a lot of guns and go shooting nearby in the open lands often. Nearby is the greatest trout fishery in the U.S. It happens to be run by the Indians, on their land. It's amazing. Trout as big as salmon. In short...I see very little government and a lot of personal freedom and the joy that comes with that.

The final straw for my departure from Cali was the schools. My son endured lectures that were right out of antifa's playbook. Then, his last history lecture was about how Lincoln and Washington were racists. In his first several days here the English teacher is covering why censorship is bad. The history teacher is talking about how capitalism is superior than socialism in terms of the human condition. I'm thrilled about that.