California’s New Cathedrals

California is special. The weather is close to perfect, the waves are made for surfing, the coast at Big Sur rivals the Amalfi Drive, and there is the persistent myth that everyone is Hollywood-handsome, slim, and sexy. It is also a fact, however, that this home of the sybaritic lifestyle rests on two major geological fault lines atop the earthquake-prone Pacific Rim. The natives don’t talk about it much, but in moments of candor they’ll admit that they’re in denial and that the “Big One” is...

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