The mountains on Sacramento Valley side are dry and the trees in the orchards are irrigated by pipelines that run all the way to supply water to every single tree. The trees are meticulously arranged in even spaced manner and as we pass by the orchard, the geometric patterns create the curious visual effects. The route 20 runs through the mountains and when it reached the valley, runs straight from the mountains to the towns. On the way, there was a members-only camping sites and the site was full of camping cars. Near the camping site, the wetland was reserved -- fenced, managed and guarded.
The area was arranged as a "drive-through" bird watching site. The human visitors are not meant to go outside the cars. From the cars, we enjoyed watching the habitat of the birds such as white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons, Anatidae), American Coots, and Pied-Billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps, Podicipedidae). The pied-billed grebe has a brown body and a white beak with a black band.
From the stage that is set at the entrance, we could observe the geese swimming, drinking water, eating foods in the water, walking in the islands, flying up from the water and landing on the water surface. The white-fronted goose is a large aquatic bird, brown overall with a white belly, a white patch on its face, a orange beak, and orange legs and feet.
We left the place and then headed for the town close by. The town was quiet and on one side the houses are well-kept and on the other, not so much as the other side. As we drove the street, on one corner, there was a store that says "FIREARMS & AMMO". A student was walking near by the store. Now the peaceful wetland and the birds do not look like the nature that they treasure. Is it, for their hunting pleasure, that they kept the place intact?
According to the statistics by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the firearm related deaths are more than 30,694 in 2005. The homicide and legal intervention firearm deaths are 12,682 in 2005. In Japan, the people smuggle in firearms and there still are firearm related crimes but the situation is not as bad as in the States. Most obviously, we want tighter control over guns here in the States and in Japan. It makes all the difference. The CNN reports the firearm related deaths rose last year to 22 in 2007 from two deaths in 2006. There was a case just recently where a student blandished knives in public in Tokyo. The people around the person were injured but not killed.
On the way back, we saw the beautiful sunset. The purple-blue-orange-pink colors of the clouds and the lake reminded me of the shiny and vivid colors of the works of Christian Lassen. It was dark when we got back.
Photo: Sony A100
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