After a long heart to heart with some friends and family last night, I really needed to go for a run.  I work out my frustration by pounding out the miles on the road, and it gives me a chance to clear my head so I can think.  So I went running through Santa Paula.  I started looking around at the homes I was running by, and was reminded of an interesting California phenomena... fences.  Every home I ran by had a fence, or a wall.  This isn't a rich neighborhood vs. poor neighborhood thing either.  I remember growing up out here that everyone had fences.  And they're usually not the small white picket fences either.  They're usually 6 foot tall cedar fences that act as privacy fences.

Wisconsin doesn't have this in general.  Sure, some folks have fences around their yards, but it's much more common to have open backyards, or only a decorative fence that really doesn't close off the space.  To be fair to California, I noticed this in Vancouver when I was there a few years ago, so it very well could be a "west coast thing".  But I have to wonder why this is?  What is it about the culture of the west coast vs. the culture of the Midwest that causes people to close themselves off from their neighbors so fiercely.  Speaking of which, here are some pictures of the wall around my sister's house: