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kayaksailor — Masses of flowers
#fields #flower #nature #oaks #purple #trees #wildflowers #yellow #massesofflowers
Published: 2015-04-24 21:29:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 1564; Favourites: 78; Downloads: 64
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Despite the on-going drought here in California, the rain we have gotten was at the right time to give us glorious fields of wildflowers...Even on a grey, cloudy day the sun is shining here...
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Comments: 44
It is a beautiful meadow! Would have loved to have today's big puffy clouds and blue sky but with the power of lightroom 
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Well, I actually like the gray sky and mellow light. It emphasizes the flowers--makes them vivid but not too vivid. But then I'm a sucker for gray skies.
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My girlfriend Steph (who lives about a half hour away from me and nearer this meadow) got this shot a few days after my daughter and I were there...
this was why I was lamenting the grey sky
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I have heard the color is still really good, you should go back over
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Probably should but there's no forecast for clouds 
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But wait my sweet friend, T storms in the forecast for the weekend, so we will likely have drift over clouds
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I think both photos have a lot going for them but in different ways. (You're not going to talk me out of liking your gray sky.)
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Oh wow, the yellow flowers in the midground are so thick that it looks as though they were landscaped. It's nice to see lupins, too-- my favorite flower, after daffodils. It's good to hear that California got just enough rain to bring up some grasses, too. 
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I don't know what they were as there weren't any close to to fence...I'm thinking they might have been "Gold Field" but I'm not sure... it was a really great year for lupine, at least around here... grass is one thing we never seem to have a problem growing 
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It really did...wish I could do it justice... my daughter took a shot of basically just the layers of flowers (different area than mine) that would make a stunning abstract on a large canvas....
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Ruth I have been wanting to say this for all of the time I have been on dA. This is so beautiful I thought it was a painting when I first saw it.
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It is such an amazing swath of blooms...I put up several other views too...
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You are most welcome Ruth, it's such a beautiful photo.
I have been wondering how long it will be until we are building pipelines to be shipping water in your direction, it seems that could be the case in the future. I really hope things turn around and you get some nice rainfall in the near future there.
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We got two inches yesterday, but today's wind is already drying things out
Now that I live in Northern California, it is interesting to listen to the grouching that happens about Southern CA "stealing" "our" water
We're on a well so while the Gov. has passed legislation to put meters and charge on individuals' & company's wells, I don't see that happening for quite some time - while those on "city" water keep seeing their rates go up...it is really bad - people are told to cut back "due to the drought" so they do, and then the water companies raise their rates because people are using less! It is a problem....
My girlfriend who lives closer to this meadow than I do took this shot a few days after my daughter and I were there...
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The two inches should help a bit I suppose but it seems that you need a lot more.
It is hard to imagine the type of population density that exists in parts of your state for me. One thing I really struggle with now is the concept of bottled water, even here where we have so much. All the waste that is created from it really is unnecessary. You have to like how in any crisis anywhere government finds a way of regulating it so that money can be pulled from it. I just worry that the drought there is not a temporary problem but sign of things to come in the future. I told my girls a long time ago that I thought that water could become the new oil of the future potentially, and that Canada is sitting on the largest supply of fresh water in the world. I hope I am wrong about it though.
When I look at this beautiful photo you have linked me, it's easy to forget there is a problem anywhere in the world though, what a stunningly beautiful scene. Thanks for linking it to me Ruth. I hope you have a great week there.
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The biggest problem is the lack of snow pack up in the Sierras...that usually melts and makes its way down through the aquifers and streams eventually ending up in the large valley in the center of California and large (to us!) lakes further north in the state - which is where the water starts being "sent" to the south via the California Aqueduct system...
The idiots still don't get the point that we do NOT have enough water to sustain the growth that has been happening for decades...even as the local water districts claim "we only have enough water for a year", townships/counties "down stream" are allowing huge tracts of houses to be built - or at least discussed...where does their water come from?!!
The agriculture of the Central Valley of CA feeds the world 
I would much rather have a pipeline bringing water down from Canada than oil - No simple solution, that's for sure...
The meadow - is quite peaceful...when the traffic isn't zipping by
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I didn't realize that a lack of snow in the Sierras was the cause of the drought but that makes good sense. I guess the East Coast got all of your snowfall this year.
Regarding growth and population I did a little looking into it relative to Canada and here are the numbers:
California: Population 39 million, Size 163K square miles
Canada: Population 35 million, Size 3.8M square miles (23 times bigger with 4 million less people)
The problem always is the same thing, money. The developers have money and want to make more of it. They are the ones the governments listen to, and that is why you have the problem that you do I think.
I am well aware of how the agriculture of the Central Valley of CA feeds the world. Here we are a farming community but we have snow for six months of the year. The foodservice company I work for gets two semi trailers per week directly from California once it becomes fall here, and sustains that until the end of May. After that they still bring some produce in for the rest of the time as well. It's interesting that people in the past could see this coming. Hopefully something can be learned from the current situation, and some proper sustainable solutions can be worked out for the future.
A water pipeline rather than an oil pipeline would be good, especially if we could trade for produce I think.
The meadow is beautiful, and until you pointed it out I never would have even thought about traffic there.
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Well, the lack of snow pack isn't the only problem...we did get some good storms but they were warm (jet stream from Hawaii rather than Alaska - and not really enough total) and so the rain just runs off, down the hills, fills the lakes. And since they have to keep the lakes relatively empty to accommodate runoff that "might" happen it gets released intot he rivers and on out to the ocean with nothing to sustain us for the rest of the year (our wet season is usually about Nov. to March) with basically NO rain in between.
People are stupid - down in what I consider my home town: Santa Barbara, maybe 20 years ago during another long drought period, they built a desalinization plant. But because by the time it was finished we were getting rain again, and water was cheaper coming from the sky, it never went on-line. The City "smart people" (gov't) decided to sell it to some middle-eastern country because the cost to keep it in "moth-balls" was too much. NOW they're trying to get the city population to fund another one!
I like the "food" for "water" exchange!!
Luckily the road at our backs, while busy, is still a country road - not a freeway
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There is discussion, nooooow, about building more lakes/reservoirs; tonight on the news I heard about one that they've got under discussion - something like $3 Billion dollars...land costs so much in CA! and many of the easily used areas have already been dammed. There is also a lot of endangered animals and plants that are dependent on the continuing flow of water...so hard to balance the needs of nature and the demands of humans.
Just re-read your stats - incredible! It would really surprise you at how much undeveloped area in in Southern CA there is - but there are a ton of people too
I have a vague understanding about water-softeners, we had one on our house down south - and couldn't drink the house water without having a filter on the faucet...never really thought about it in regards to "desalinization"! Another downside to the hard water is the leftover salts in agriculture - more destroyed farmland... interesting about your job history, yes water is very important!
anyway enough chatting
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I found it here.
No surprise that land there is expensive, given that supply verses demand aways sets the market value of things. You have no shortage of demand from what I can tell. There will be a lot of factors to be considered with building more lakes/reservoirs for sure. Some how people seem to think humans should go before nature, and that works great until nature bites back.
The stats are interesting for sure. Here the climate is much tougher, and the amount of unused land is massive still. Amazing that there is land undeveloped there, but I am sure there is lots. What would the advantages be to having California split into two states? I have long heard the term Northern California but up until now never really considered it separate from the south, but I could see it now that you point it out. The common thought here is that almost every day is 88 F, sunny with a light breeze all year round. I know that's not the case but something I think some people believe.
The idea behind water softeners is that they electrically charge all the stuff in the water you don't want, and then it is magnetically extracted as the water flows through them. It's the salt that helps the process work. Hard water typically contains lots of calcium and magnesium and other things like iron that need to be removed. I am not sure about laundering with grey water, I would think you would need extra detergent to make that work, and then rinsing it out would take more steps. I think you would do better to work out a way of at least treating your grey water first with filters and a settling tank perhaps. I sure do like the idea of an orchard though, what kind would it be?
Time for work here, it is very much fun chatting though. 
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I think they need to build extra retaining ponds to offset years like this one for sure. There needs to be something built in to plan for bad years and allow for release in good years for sure.
This is so true "People are stupid" I would love to see a desalination plant work and taste the water from it. I have worked in the chemical industry for 30 years, my specific thing is warewash and laundry, but cleaning as well. Water is a huge part of what I do, and I have always believed there are better ways of doing it. I think water that is not completely removed of salt could be used as well since water softeners add salt to get the result they are designed for.
"Food" for "Water" should work I think, but I really hope you don't need water that badly.
I prefer not to think of the road at all, the idea of Northern California to me seems so distant from the southern part of it, almost like it should be two separate states.
I do want to say that I really like the exchanges with you, very intelligent, fun, and so insightful for me. Plus I always get to look at your wonderful photos here on dA. Ruth it is a pleasure knowing you.
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....search for my last response - it got lost in the tread somewhere
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