Wildflower Run

California's Central Valley is called the Midwest of the West, and we always feel the midwestern vibe in the pace and the people when we go there for a visit, as we did this past week.

But our land near Clovis isn't in the Central Valley; it's just a few miles away in the near-by Sierra foothills, which have an entirely different look and feel. We love going up to visit our land in March or April, when the grass is still green (it later turns to gold, not brown), and the wildflowers are blooming.

So, welcome to the land Incredible Wife and I plan to build on sometime in the next couple years.

This is about where the driveway will be.

The tree on the right is close to our property line, so the meadow is just off our property. It will remain forever as open space, and will be the primary view from the rooms we will do most of our living in.

Here's the more distant view we'll see from the house.

In this photo, I'm looking up from the bottom of the property. Our home will be at the top of this rise, and some of the rooms will look down on this slope.

The property is covered with wildflowers of all colors -- plum, gold, white, fuschia, yellow, pearl and these purple beauties.

This just might be my next screensaver.

And here I am with Cammie and Pepper (tail quadrant only showing) visualizing the orientation of the house.