I have called you home for all my life, but today it is no longer so. This morning a Californian boarded a plane. Whether or nor a Californian got off that plane remains to be seen. Monday morning is my first day of work toward a paycheck that will be taxed by another state. On Tuesday, I get the keys to my first home, a townhome in Leesburg, Virginia. Sometime soon after that, the moving truck will belch forth all my worldly possessions into the empty home. Then, finally, on the 14th, the rest of my family will join me and help me transform the house into our new home.

I learned a very interesting musical fact recently: There are plenty of songs about being in California or returning to California, but it's really damn hard to find any about leaving. So I'll just have to plahy my California mix backwards.