California turns out to be so, like ... so... California

"I recommend that everyone do it," says Micaela Hoskins of San Jose, Calif., who is an enthusiastic hugger of trees. Her 5-year-old daughter seems to be a chip off the old ... trunk. "Rosemary hugged every tree she saw this past weekend as we were out walking," Ms. Hoskins says. "Tree hugging grounds you, somehow. It connects you to the earth and the sky."

Surfing is another link in the sun- dappled life culture. Most residents live within 75 miles of a 1,200-mile coast that includes pristine public-run beaches. Some go as far to say the ocean is a key element in balancing the California psyche.

"Californians are closely connected to the sea and its environs. They play and unwind at the beach the way people in other parts of the country do at a neighborhood park," says Arthur Chandler, humanities department chair at San Francisco State University.

Lima Bergmann, a family therapist who recently moved to Bell Canyon from Northern California and who has surfed, acknowledges her spiritual tie with the vast expanse of blue water. "If I didn't live on the coast, I would feel trapped, confined," she says. "Even just staring at the ocean can be a near-religious experience."

Mud baths, however, are still quite remarkable in other parts of the country. New Englanders, for instance, recognize mud as that yearly annoyance between March and May. But in California earthy ablutions are a manifestation of the state's famous embrace of self-improvement, such as holistic healing, vegan/vegetarianism, the antismoking movement, the hot tub culture, and more.

Much of California's unconventional ethos is rooted in its past.

Mr. Chandler points to the observation of renowned writer H.L. Mencken, who said that the East Coast was settled by people who were bold and daring in the 17th century. The West Coast, notably San Francisco, was settled by people who were bold and daring in the mid-19th century.

"Eastern settlers tended to be running from something but California settlers were madcap dreamers filled with optimistic fantasies about personal enrichment," he says. "They were running to, not from - a perspective that continues today."

For 150 years California has drawn floods of migrants in search of a better life: gold miners, Chinese railroad-builders, dust-bowl Okies, post-World War II vets, Vietnam refugees, and millions more. In the early 20th century, California's population was less than 3 million. Today, it has exploded to 10 times that figure: 35 million. If present trends continue, Mr. Starr projects that California could become home to one-fourth of the entire country by 2040.

Think of it: America, a nation of surfing, tree-hugging mud-bathers. That would be just fine with Larry Barrows of Sacramento, a 30-year Californian who was born in New York City and has also lived in New Mexico and Arizona. He, his wife, even his father-in-law admit to relishing the thought of being scrubbed in a mix of earth and water.

"It's wonderfully relaxing," he says, "It's like getting a facial for your whole body."

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