Great shots, Mike. The hat and the gloves are my favorites.
You're currently in the middle of the grazing grounds of those nationally advertised happy California cows. It's true that those hills will turn brownish-yellow between rainy seasons, but the evergreens stay green, so the landscape never looks arid. It's never seemed commonplace to me, though. I'm constantly aware that I live in one of the most beautiful locations on earth. Sue and my other shopping companions can tell you how I frequently stop in my tracks even as we walk through a parking lot to squeal in delight at the surrounding landscape. There's a view from the Safeway parking lot in Guerneville that reminds me of Ireland. When I'm there I often think of the people who pay so much money to go see the fabled 49 shades of green in Ireland when they could see the same 49 shades from a banal parking lot in a small town here.
