Always that I can remember, as a kid, who knows but maybe even before, I dreamed of living in the woods, near the coast. They became redwoods as I got older.
Raised in Sonoma County, part of what is called the Redwood Empire. The Redwood Empire is pretty much the northwest part of California. Sonoma County's population has grown huge. The middle part of it is one huge megalopolis. In 1986 I moved to southwest Montana, zone 4, barely. Wellp, discovered I enjoy the cold winters there more than most who were born there. Plants there, that can grow there, are amazing to me. For most of them, it is not so much the total maximum cold as, they can survive year to year on such a short growing season. So that was a big change, and I learned a lot. But for 21 years there, I sorely missed the full growing season. Santa Rosa Sonoma County, well, it grew way too much, just chockablock with humans. Jam packed. If you are not already moving forward before the light turns green you get honked at by some city slicker runt.
So I got the opportunity to move up here to Lake Pillsbury where a job might be available for me. Ya know, I got the job and place I now have almost exactly 5 years ago.
I am 200 feet or so from the "coast" of the lake. My cabin is in the woods. There is even one double trunked, tall and beautiful Redwood tree 40 feet from where I sit, right out my window, and the lake, all blue, with the occasional wakeboard boat zooming along on it, is also right out my window.
Where I am is the dream place I dreamt of to live since...forever.
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It is zone 8a here. Well, 3 winters in a row now this spot has not gotten colder than 21.7. Was it 23.7 this winter once? It snows here. Not as heavy or as often, nor near as cold as southwest Montana, but there can be wet snowfalls of a foot or more. Snow usually happens a few times in December and January, and diminishes a lot in the following months. Was it 3 years ago that a light flurry of snow, what I call warm snow, happened on June 3rd? Snowed when it was 40 degrees. Then that year, the summer breeze hit June 8th. Not much spring that year. Normally though snow happens december and january, then a few light flurries february to April maybe. Usually it rains a good amount in winter here.
This year spring was looooooooooong! Still is a touch of the spring breeze some days. Today for example. Unusual, but I like it. Wet part of the year is from October to April, but we are having a drought cycle year. Has not rained much since...thinking...January? Small rains since then not amounting to much.
Yes, we get 4 seasons here, usually. Fall starts like summer part B. Indian Summer. Then cools off nicely, like fall should. Winter seems to start December 7th around here. All out I mean. Last season my first real garden ending frost did not happen until December 1st. Ya know, after 21 years in Montana where a garden lasting past September first is true bonus time, lasting to December 1st is mind blowing. And then this spring! Last frost at my garden and cabin was february 28th. Course it was not very warm at first, but I planted the peas March 16th. Flowering right now.
There are so many wildflowers here. Unreal. I saw 2 places with subdwarf Irises that I can't find any reference to. Orchids. 4 kinds of California Tulips, Calichortus. I want some writer of botany to come here and list the flora, just of the lake basin! It'd be a good sized book.
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The hills here are the Coast Range. Also a very old range. So far they have not fallen into the sea, at least not since I guess the Devonian, and that asteroid 65 million years ago couldn't knock these hills into the sea. So, if the rest of the state sinks, I'll man this island. It'll all be good. I have some life preservers. Even have a small boat. If there's a tidal wave I'll go up Hull Mountain to ride it out. Not sure If I can get my boat up that road though. Fact, that last mile my ole car'd never make. Hafta hike that part.
Actually, the seabed slides down under us here. The edge of that is about 50 miles off the coast, about 100 miles west of here. The coast of the pacific is about 50 miles west as the raven flies. Something like that.
Hoodat, the opposite side of the lake looks like it's about even with my eyes! Optical delusion is all.
