Distant California

It’s not the California coast that most of us are familiar with, but good to know it’s out there. These old barns down at the bottom of this valley are no longer used, the sheep and cattle ranch ceased operations years ago. In some ways its sad to see this era come to a close, a page of history has turned and the story just keeps going forward year after year. Most often we see these pastoral settings replaced by condos and cookie cutter retail outlet centers and that is where the real sadness comes from for me in those situations- the steady march from natural beauty to udder mediocrity. In this case though, for the ranch in this painting, the end of its days brings no such sadness. It is in no danger of being paved over. It is heading the other direction. Even the changes that ranching brought to these hills are slowly being undone. Nature plays a long game, but her strategies are a joy to behold.