There was supposed to be a snowstorm in San Francisco last night, the first in a very long time, and snow levels in our valley were supposed to reach as low as 100 feet or so, so we set out to see if any had fallen in the Sierra Nevada foothills above our home. If there was any, it melted early, but we found a different kind of snow on the almond orchards that cover the low hills: blossoms!
I can't help but think that the blossoms are blooming earlier every year, but it always happens, and my hay fever follows soon thereafter. Still, it is a beautiful sight to see thousands of acres of flowers and deliriously happy bees. California's Central Valley (we call it the Great Valley) is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, but it rarely offers much to look at in a scenery sense, or in a geological sense for that matter.
But for a few weeks in the spring, it's a happening place, and is well worth a visit.
There was supposed to be a snowstorm in San Francisco last night, the first in a very long time, and snow levels in our valley were supposed to reach as low as 100 feet or so, so we set out to see if any had fallen in the Sierra Nevada foothills above our home. If there was any, it melted early, but we found a different kind of snow on the almond orchards that cover the low hills: blossoms!
I can't help but think that the blossoms are blooming earlier every year, but it always happens, and my hay fever follows soon thereafter. Still, it is a beautiful sight to see thousands of acres of flowers and deliriously happy bees. California's Central Valley (we call it the Great Valley) is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, but it rarely offers much to look at in a scenery sense, or in a geological sense for that matter.
But for a few weeks in the spring, it's a happening place, and is well worth a visit.
6 comments:
With that close-up photo I can smell the blossoms!
Wow!
I think we're getting "your" snow, btw.
Glad there wasn't any snow and just blossoms. We are predicted to get 12" tonight. I hope not.
WOW! That is what it looks like right now!?!?? I am jealous! Wish Spring would show up in western CO already!
Very nice, but it is a very unfortunate example of extreme mono-culture as well.
You are absolutely right, rtega, this is monoculture, although it is not as extreme in the Central Valley as in other places. I drive past at least 6-7 different crops on my commute to school and I have heard that our valley produces something like 500 different agricultural products. This is a bounty of the soil and climate, and not from smart choices. We have many, many problems associated with our land-use choices: vast water transfers, overdrafting of groundwater, destruction of Sacramento Delta habitats, not to mention the disrupted savanna and riparian environments. Add pollution and health problems, and we have a mess!
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