While I don't think I'll ever find myself singing "I Love L.A." with honesty, I do find that I'm growing to love living in Southern California more & more. Donna and I have only been here for about eighteen months, but I find it harder all the time to remember what it was like NOT living here.

Even on those rainy and cold days we have had the past couple of months it doesn't compare to the weeks of bitter cold, ice & snow that we had to deal with every year. Growing up in New England, of course, it seemed that that was just the way it was and I couldn't envision living anywhere else. My first taste of California, back in the mid-70s, was pretty eye opening and each time I returned here I thought how wonderful it would be to actually put down roots.

When I'm asked now by folks if I miss living in New York I can say without hesitation that I don't. We do miss friends and family.

It's harder on Donna since she was so close to her family and she had so many close friends who are still back in Brooklyn. I, on the other hand, had only a few folks who I could call 'close friends', and even when Donna and I were living in Connecticut I rarely went back to see either my oldest friend, Gerry, or my sisters. I think a lot of that has to do with the years I spent in the Navy or living either in other states or other parts of Connecticut. Most of my life at this point has been spent away from where I grew up, so most of my ties have been severed long ago.

I hope this hasn't sounded like I'm complaining, since I'm not. I have never been happier than I am at this point. I enjoy my job, have a wonderful wife and a step-daughter of whom I couldn't be prouder. Oh, yeah, we have a cat and my affection for her depends upon the hour of the morning she feels is time for breakfast.

Yeah, things are pretty good! (By the way, that's a view from Lake Mission Viejo a few miles from us.)