Flame Hills

From Photo Sanity

April 2008 - Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Lancaster, California

Each spring if the conditions are right, many areas of California blaze with color thanks to the California poppies. I had been to Antelope Valley previously and thought it was spectacular but nothing prepared me for what I was about to see when I got there this year. It was clear one day and we could see the orange of the hills from almost 8 miles away (no, I am not exaggerating!). This was taken from about 2 miles away in the areas surrounding the Reserve, these lands are riddled with dirt roads and are also great places to explore when the conditions are right. It was a wonderful weekend and people who know better than I said it wasn’t the best they had seen there. I hope to one day get there when it is “the best” but if this wasn’t it sure made me happy!

Springtime Barn, Palouse

From Photo Sanity

June 12, 2005

One of my favorite Barns in the Palouse; I visit it each time I am in the area to see what it looks like. The scene changes based on the crops planted near the barn or lack of them. The sky, weather and time of day make a difference as well. This year barley was planted around the barn and the weather provided beautiful blue skies with white puffy clouds. The vibrant green of the barley combined with the red barn reminded me of Christmas and in fact I actually used this photo as my holiday card for the year. It’s still one of my all time favorites from the area.