After 35 years in Boston, 25 of them living in the same house, I am moving to Santa Cruz. I chose this format over more social media, because I think a blog is still the best conveyor of words our current world seems to offer. I am a word person. I cherish the nuance and subtlety, etymology, and even orthography of words. English words. I try to learn other languages, yet I feel I must be missing so much. I can barely see the superficial pattern, not stroke the fabric, not feel the nap, not follow the weave, as I can in English. I know it is all there, in every language, of course it is! The more I learn of a new language, the more I realize I don’t know, and feel I can never know.
Moving to California is not like moving to a non-English-speaking country, yet I already know from visits there are substantive differences in assumptions, habits, and priorities. In Massachusetts, especially in the cocoon-like neighborhood in which my children were raised, people are kind, and compassionate, and tolerant because they feel virtuous. In California, people have those same attitudes because they feel unconstrained.
This is a hypothesis. I will have a chance to test it.
Culminating Triad 
I agree with your hypothesis, and as you know I am pretty well informed on both Mass and California. Massachusetts has never left its Puritan heritage far behind, for better and for worse, and similarly California has always fancied itself the wild and free and best part of the US of A.
And yay for words! I had to look up orthography; it seems like I would have known that word. Maybe my brain discarded it…. Anyway, your blog is inspiring me!
LikeLike
Glad to have the opportunity to follow your journey and thank you for writing this blog. I’m excited for you and for me as a reader!
LikeLike