Morning in Paradise...

Morning in Paradise...  Miki, Race, and I took our walk an hour or so later than usual, well after sunrise.  I took the photo at right from the point at which we turned around.  In the center is a storm cell approaching us – and by the time we got back down, it started to spritz on us.

We met several people today along our walk: a crew from Clausen's dairy moving the irrigation lines on their alfalfa fields (2 hand lines and 4 wheelie lines), the gardener who keeps the corner garden I've posted photos of, and a couple of girls (8 and 10 years old) out for a walk in the beautiful fields and almost 2 miles from their home.  The girls told me they do this several times a week, and the main reason they do it is to see wildlife and birds.  On today's walk, they'd spotted a skunk, a rock chuck, two deer, and a flock of white-faced ibis.  They were excited about the ibis, as its the first time they'd ever seen them!

Can you imagine how the nanny-staters in California would react to two kids this young out on their own, so far from any adult?  It's oh-so-refreshing for me to see that this is completely normal here.  These two kids, and many more like them here, are going to grow up unafraid of the big wide world – unlike so many I've met over my city-bound career...