This is Jack’s Valley, just south of Carson City, Nevada. It’s actually mostly desert country, except where there are creeks and rivers coming off the mountains. That tends to be beautiful grazing ranch land. The day I was here there were gusts of wind up to 100 m.p.h. and I thought my car would be sandblasted and even though I started out clean by the end of the day there was dust everywhere—even in my teeth! The yellow stuff in front is rabbit brush in full bloom this time of year. It’s one of my favorite desert plants and the bees love it.