California 31st State

California

Another beautiful, sunny, snow capped day in Southern California! Remember when you see all these beautiful, crystal clear postcard images... Southern California postcard pictures are taken in the winter, when you can SEE the mountains! Unfortunately, for the better part of the year, you can live in the valleys at the foot of these mountains and only vaguely know that there are mountains a few miles away.

Southern California is quite beautiful and the weather is nice most of the year. It does get very hot in the summer though. The mountains form a natural barrier between the coast and the open deserts. The moisture off the ocean combines with the smoke and polution inland, creating a haze referred to as "Smog". The term smog comes from smoke+fog. Over the years, the visibility had not improved that much but the pollutants in the smog seem to have lessened, thanks to many of the environmental restrictions on automobiles, incinerators, factories and other causes of airborne pollutants.

Many years ago, an immigrant arrived from Spain in the month of April. Living at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains, he frequently drove within a few miles of the mountains. One day in early November, he walked outside and exclaimed... "Where did THOSE come from?" For six months, he had lived in the shadow of the mountains and didn't have a clue that they were there! When visible, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains look huge and imposing.

Caption: An overview of Pomona with snowcapped San Gabriel Mountains in the background. Photo © Eric Villichs