Five Minute Freewrite--California

Find the prompt here!

California is the state I was born in, and now the state my baby was born in. It's always held a special place in my heart because I could call myself a "native Californian," even though I grew up mostly in Washington state. It felt special to me to call myself that. California is a place of dreams and beaches and palm trees. It's a dreamscape. I guess that's why we came to live here, to follow our dreams. It's dirty, though, too, here in L.A., and I love its contrasts. Love and hate, that is. The poor live at the doorstep of the incredibly wealthy. Everyone can enjoy the beaches, except for where the millionaires and billionaires block public access. It's too easy for the very well-off to ignore these paradoxes. They stay in their mansions and just don't have to think about it. I'm glad our kid will grow up without a car, taking public transit with masses of humanity, poor and wealthy alike. Because apparently some wealthy people take public transit. Vincent Kartheiser said he did, anyway. I wonder if that's still true, or if it ever really was true. California. Land of dreams and palm trees and beaches. Okay, I'm done writing now but shit the timer just went off.