In The Warm California Sun

There has been, in the twenty-five years since I moved here, a number of cries for California to secede from the Union. This secessionist talk has roots that reach back as far as the nineteenth century, before the left coast had even become a state or three. All of the things that make the north, south and central regions unique have been held up as reasons to break the state up into pieces are also the things that give it such formidable potential if it were to hang together as its very own republic. A peek at the words below that big bear on the flag lets you know that the Golden State is only a bit of legislation away from becoming its own nation.
Recently, there has even been a clever name attached to this movement: Calexit. Catchy, but perhaps a little too reminiscent of Caltrans, which also has its own challenge keeping their organization distinct from other trans groups. This is 2017, after all. Which also means that the potential for one of the world's largest economies with a population larger than many countries to skip off on their own as real and true.
Could this really happen? If the dark blue on the map shown during all those discussions of red and blue states can be believed, California, along with Oregon and Washington, could form their own coastal coalition and make their way into becoming the next pot-smoking bleeding heart tech savvy region on the planet. We could all become the Netherlands of the Pacific. We could lead the way in preparing for the first annual Hunger Games. Except in that vision of the future, we would all be underwater.
Okay, so maybe there are a couple other things working against this plan. Like the big red swaths that show up on closer examination of the deep blue California. That and the fact that the most recent leader of this exodus, Louis Marinelli, has decided to chuck it all and move to Russia.  Dosvedanya, Lou. Along with his departure, the revelation that a good deal of the funding and support for the Yes California campaign comes from Russia, this makes all this Red and Blue talk even more confusing. So, for now we'll stay put. We're not going anywhere. Physically, anyway.