by Byron, Glenside, PA

I was in my dorm room at Penn, it was an early winter, desolate grey day, and I was missing my girlfriend terribly. Then The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” came on the radio…

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey I went for a walk
On a winter’s day
I’d be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin’
On such a winter’s day

As they were missing California, so I was missing being safe and warm with my girlfriend. It was not one of the better times in my life. Every time since then that I hear that song it takes me back to the dorm room and the strong emotions. Ironically, several years later my girlfriend and I ended up together in California. But the song still brings back the feelings of longing and sadness.