I live in Calistoga - a town of strength and beauty; a town naturally endowed with hot springs and hills of beauty. To live here once will mark you forever, and I know of many, like myself, who has kept coming back to live here, because you must.
To the outside eye Calistoga looks quaint and cozy and you may want to blame it on the soil, the air, or the water, but to the resident there is a pull - a pull that is both joyful and painful - a pull you cannot resist. It's a little bit like being in love: you are filled with affection for this place but at the same time, you are filled with dread, because you could you lose this place. When one is in love there is both joy and sorrow and you feel both sensations alternately here in Calistoga.
Therefore, to live here takes strength and determination, because you want to be part of this natural beauty; you want to interact with the inherent strength and beauty of the place which demands strength and beauty on your own part. Whatever you do here you must invent, act, and react in accordance with the place and thus show your own strength and beauty in what you do.
There is this calling and many of us hear it but it is a constant task to adhere to it and to respect it, as we live our mundane and materialistic lives.
