Before I tell you how it feels when there are huge, out-of-control, catastrophic fires burning to the north, south, and east of us, and the Air Quality Index is listed as “hazardous” for days on end, and my friends with asthma are stuck inside their houses, windows sealed, air filters humming, and those of us who do venture outside feel the stifling air burn our throats and sting our eyes, and there’s a thin coating of ash over everything, and the Oakland hills are swathed in a gray-white shawl of smoky haze — before I tell you all of that, I want to tell you about falling in love with California.