Last Year's View Across the Road

We don't have very much acreage, but across the road is a much larger parcel. We appreciate living here and being able to walk, run the dogs, and just a enjoy the view across the road. In 2013 I planned to take photos from the same location, of the same view, and at the same time each week to document the changes through the year. You probably don't mind that it didn't work because who would want to see 52 photos of the same thing? This field has been planted to alfalfa for several years but in 2013 there were sunflowers. Here is the year Across the Road: 1-10 January 101-25 January 251-31 January 313-7 March 73-26 March 264-4 April 44-11 April 115-5 May 55-21 May 215-28 May 286-13 June 137-4 July 47-12July 128-8 August 89-30 September 3010-10October 1010-18October 1811-24 November 2412-31December 31

There you have it. I stood at the mailbox for each photo. But the photos are obviously now always the same view or even using the same camera.

The most striking thing in my mind is how dry it was last year. The Central Valley of CA enjoys a Mediterranean climate which means hot dry summers and cool wet winters. We rely on winter rainfall to replenish aquifers and reservoirs to provide the water that keeps the valley from being a desert in the summer. This link shows graphs of the average precipitation and temperature for our area. According to accuweather.com the average annual rainfall for Sacramento is 18.5". We have had only 30% of that (5" in all of 2013). The hills (and the field across the road) should be green right now with the growth of the annual grasses that germinate from fall rains. Grass started to grow with each of the two (only 2) rainy days that we had but has mostly dried up.

On the bright side, I'm not slogging through calf-deep mud when doing chores and we don't have to run the sump pump to keep the the water heater in the basement from flooding.

Hoping for a wet 2014!