California

Not many days go by without my being really grateful for living in California.  It's been 30 years now and it still amazes me.  For instance, yesterday was my annual trip down to Palm Springs, and this is what the side of the road was like when I left Big Bear at 8:30 for the two-hour drive.

Not very nice, and particularly when you realize there was a good half-inch of ice underneath.  I could save the TV people a lot of money on their radar systems if they just called me in the winter and asked when I was planning to drive off the hill.

It's almost guaranteed!

But on the way down the hill I kept an eye on the temperature and watched it rise from about 28 to up in the mid-seventies.  As usual, I began to regret my woolen clothing and long pants.  Palm Springs beckoned,

Now we're talking!

I stopped just as soon as I reached the outskirts of the town and took this picture of an ordinary corner of a small housing complex.

But of course it isn't all like this.  Absent the Mexican gardeners, fertilizers and constant watering it soon would turn into what is usually opposite - scrub desert, which is not very attractive at all.

It always reminds me of the old joke where the vicar is returning from his Sunday service and sees Old Joe leaning on his garden gate.  He says to Old Joe: "We haven't seen you in church much these days, Joe."  To which the old man replied: "No, Vicar, I've been tending to my garden most weekends."  The Vicar looks around and says, "Ah yes, God does wonderful work doesn't he?"  The reply was a curt.  "I dunno, Vicar, He hadn't done much with the place before I got hold of it!"