It’s hot. Our corner of California is not as hot as Death Valley in the Mojave Desert (Eastern Californa). Here, temperatures of 130 degrees Farenheit are not unknown. But during summer, our county also gets into triple digit Fahrenheit temperatures. Or, 40 degrees Celsius +.
We are only  a day’s drive away from Death Valley (8hrs). We’ll visit Death Valley when we feel the need to push the temperature envelope and visit this arid region. In the interim we are more likely to detour to Reno or Yosemite National Park; other tourist attractions that are both easily drivable destinations in under 4 hours.
How to describe the Californian heat and light effectively?
Recently five year old son and I feel nauseous throughout the hottest part of the day; whether caught in the car or providing our garden with a much needed extra watering with the garden hose.
As I walk around our driveway, the ground gently washes up and down, shimmering in the heat. This basic illusion causes me to trip over my feet. I feel seasick walking on tarmac and am again affected when driving to pick up another son from a summer day camp.  The bright Californian light picks out the headlamps and colors on the stream of on-coming traffic. It looks as though a mixture of big rigs,  sapphires and rubies are approaching me. It can be disconcerting.
It is common to plant large tree varieties in Californian gardens to provide much needed shade:
The sun rising over the tips of the redwood trees in our garden.
We have lots of wildlife visitors on hazy warm Californian days: A deer at our neighbors’:
