What) Time to
recalibrate yourself. Drive just west of the border between
Arizona and southern California, and stop in the Sonoran
Desert. Jacques-Andre saw this barren wasteland while serving
as a Marine in the Korean War. He fell in love with it, and,
with money made from his successful parachute schools
business, bought thousands of acres stretching from I-8
northward to the Chocolate Mountains. "I told my wife, 'I
don't know what I'm going to do with this bare land, but it
has to be entertaining'," he said. First, Jacques-Andre
somehow convinced Imperial County, California, to legally
recognize a spot on his property as the official Center of the
World. Next, he had the town of Felicity incorporated, naming
it after his wife, Felicia Lee. The Mayor next decided to
build a magnificent church for his town -- but first he needed
a hilltop for it. "I'm not religious," he told us, "but if
you're going to build a House of God, it's got to be on the
highest spot." Jacques-Andre had 150,000 tons of earth trucked
in and piled up into what he calls the Hill of Prayer
(engineered to earthquake Zone 4 specifications). On top of it
he had built what he calls The Church on the Hill, which is
modelled after one that he likes in Normandy - the one
crowning Mont St. Michel.
Jacques-Andre's latest project is The World
Commemorative Center at Felicity. On a series of
two-inch-thick granite walls, he is having inscribed
everything that he thinks is worth telling future generations.
Phase One consists of a hundred walls stretching over a third
of a mile. The Master Plan shows that the walls will
eventually form a fish-shaped outline that encloses the Church
and extends beyond, with its tail at the Pyramid and its nose
way, way out toward the distant hills. The walls are
engineered to last 4,000 years and become "the one book that
survives." There are no billboards for the Center of the
World, the restaurant here is only open four hours a day, and
the Center itself is only open from December to March, when
the outside temperature won't kill you. More information is
available at http://www.felicityusa.com/. (1)
Why) If that description did not entice you
to visit then I don't think I can write anything that will. 
The enitre town of Felicity can be seen from the Church on the Hill.
The Church on the Hill in Felicity, California
Although this picture is not a beautiful way to end this section,
Pam and I both purchased items from the gift shop to support the wonderful projects going on at Felicity.
