California Dreamin’

Sixty years ago The Mamas and the Papas released the song, California Dreamin’, which had the memorable opening: “All the leaves are brown.” Hey, most of the leaves are brown this autumn in California, but the song was written about the cold gray winter in New York where people in the song dream about warmer times in California. I never paid close attention to the geography when I first heard it in New Jersey, instead, after I got out of the Army in 1971, I moved to California, sight unseen.