California is the other state in my life, an unrequited love that tugs at my heart strings each time I visit despite overcrowding, traffic, cost of living, and occasional taxpayer revolts. Colorado has mountainous beauty, passionate outdoorspeople, slightly more affordable housing and a Western vibe, but my children were born in the other C state, and family members have recently purchased homes in a beautiful area. Those advantages, plus an ocean coast, threaten to upset my apple cart when I visit, particularly when the winter rains have turned all of the foothills New Zealand green.
Last weekend William and I flew out to the "Tri-Valley Area" of northern California (San Ramon, Pleasanton/Dublin and Danville regions) for an Olympic Development Program water polo tournament. William was fortunate to be selected for the Mountain Zone team along with several of his Colorado Water Polo teammates, and they were joined by great young men from Boulder and the state of Utah.
The boys played against multi-state zones from the Midwest, Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast regions, as well as a Southeast region that had a lot of Texas players. They won all three games on Saturday, and William and I were especially thrilled that my parents, two brothers and their families were able to drive down from Petaluma/Rohnert Park to watch one of the games. It was a unique thrill to explain the game of water polo to my passionately sports-oriented nephew, Mac, and hear my mom urge the scorekeepers to add the proper number of goals to the Moutain Zone tally.
After a fun lunch at my brothers' old haunt in Danville, where we sat on the patio (with heat lamps - a chilly weekend), my parents headed home while the boys revisited old high school haunts and were hailed by old friends driving down the main drag. I went back to water polo at Dougherty Valley HS, a ten-year-old facility with a gorgeous campus, surrounded by new developments and green hilltops that were formerly dirt roads, water towers and cow-grazing pastures.
I wondered where California got the money to build a new school, since taxpayers voted decades ago to restrict the amount of taxes that go to public schools (a major strike against moving back.) As I restlessly walked the grounds between games part of my question was answered by a school advertisement for a "Diamonds and Denim" fundraiser, tickets going for $700 / table.
Flocks of red-winged blackbirds cheered me on from the bleachers as I paced around the track. Pee-wee football overran the infield and suited-up students flocked to the main buildings for a debate or spelling bee. A teacher / coach chatted with me as we paused to take in the scene and confessed that though he and his wife both taught at the high school, they could not afford to live near it. Affordable housing was about 25 miles north, in a poor school district.
With Colorado looking better all the time, I was recalled to my post by shrill whistles from the water polo games. The team concluded its first four games with a 4-0 record. The final game on Sunday was difficult and William played only a few minutes as the big, strong boys from Central California played tight defense and strong offense from the center. We lost the game by a narrow margin and William came away with new friends, a respect for his coach, greater knowledge of the game and awareness of where he needs to work. I could not ask for a better weekend, though I am grateful to be back home. My love affair with California will have to sit on the back burner until our next trip.
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