The woman who owned the little flower shop on Euclid, in Berkeley, that I used to buy flowers from told me one bright day in September 2005 how she'd spent 6 weeks of that summer in Maine. Originally from Iran but long a resident of California, the lovely flower woman told me the only other place in the United States she could imagine living was Maine.
As I always trusted her judgment in flowers, I decided to trust it in terms of states too and in my mind, Maine became California's east coast equivalent. However, after having visited Florida a few weeks ago I've changed my mind. Though I went to Maine in the summer of 2006 and was more struck by the brisk weather (though it was still August) than the California connection I still equated the two. It wasn't until I was walking happily along a beach in Stuart, Florida earlier this month that I realized how much more Florida, rather than Maine, seemed like California, or at least southern California.
Stuart seemed like vacation land- lots of happy, smiley, tanned, beach going people relaxing by the ocean and enjoying their surroundings and the weather. (I've always wondered what it would be like to actually live by the beach year-round and have that kind of vacation feel all the time.)
The vacation vibe, the sunny and warm weather and the inviting ocean made me think more of Malibu and San Diego (both places I've only ever been on vacation) than Maine ever did.
The Maine coast, I think, matches better with Northern California or Oregon or Washington. All those areas have beaches that are isolated and rugged, that bring to mind wind swept hair and sweatshirts rather than suntans and bikinis. For me, the Maine and the Northwest coasts are the loners while Florida and Malibu are the social butterflies.
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