Scenes of Life

One of the things about the Bay Area that I've always loved is that it is situated near the ocean, mountains (including snow if you drive far enough), rolling hills and valleys, forests and hikes, ahhh.... the only thing I never realized is that there is little fresh water here and it's quite dry!  Michigan winters can be hard on the skin because of the dryness... and so can California! 

But no complaints about the weather; it's definitely an improvement!  It has been consistently about 60 and sunny -- not bad for winter!  It does dip lower during the night and has noticeably less precipitation (my car is filthy because it won't rain so I can get it "washed!").  The humorous thing is that the Californians think that this is cold!

It was 57F at the time this photo was taken, but this man is prepared for winter in Michigan!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos from my walks and hikes in the area to give you an idea of what the scenery is like. When I first arrived, I was invited to go on a hike by some people at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  Here are a few shots from my hike on the "golden" hills of California (including one of the cows!):

I stuck with the nice folks from BSF, so we didn't make it to the top.  I look forward to making the hike to the top of the peak one of these days!

There is also a man-made lake nearby that has a nice paved trail around it that is a 2-mile loop.  If you frame the shot right, you can pretend that it's not in the middle of wild suburbia...

In reality, it is in the middle of suburban paradise and even has a major construction project going on that is extending the public transportation system further South.  But I can pretend, right?

Did I mention that it's been 60 and sunny most every day? :)