California's heartland is one, big, relatively flat, open expanse. It's home to several million people, mostly clustered in the handful of bigger cities - Redding and Red Bluff to the far north, Chico, Oroville, and Marysville/Yuba City to the not-so-far north, Sacramento, Stockton, and Modesto at its core, Fresno and Bakersfield, to the far south. In between, there may be a hundred small cities and even smaller towns and placenames.
Many of the communities have histories going back to the mid 1800s, especially those that grew up along railroads or were already located at crossroads of trails and natural trading routes. 
The residents either grow something for a living - farming, crops, orchards of fruits and nuts, dairy and ranching - or those who commute into the larger cities to spend their workday. Central Valley...Great Valley...Big Valley. 
The long way across, it's well over 400 miles long. The short way, side to side, it's 60 miles wide. Growing up, it was this gap between "here" in the SF East Bay Area, and "there" in the Mother Lode foothills and the grand Sierra Nevada beyond. At some point, after we moved out here, I realized there were some worthwhile scenes and settings out here in the flatlands.
Old farmsteads... 
Orchards...
Backroads...
I've long wanted to compile writing of places I have come to appreciate. Welcome to my neck of the woods, as the phrase goes.The "where" of this rather depends upon the forum I'm writing to, or connecting with. In my little corner of the DeviantArt world, this could be anything North American, since many of my friends there would converse in languages or accents from far-fling corners of our little planet: Australia, England, Eastern Europe...so, Welcome to America!Others there, as well as a messageboard based out of Florida populated by a group of friends brought together through a love of Celtic music, know of my little space out on the western edge of this continent: California and the American West...so, Welcome to California!Still others know of the realm I grew up in as being set in the more northerly part of this vast place called California, with its unique contrasts of places and scenes, whether grand and small, whether rowdy and silent, whether man-made and natural...so, Welcome to Northern California!Do I know in advance where this will lead? Nope. I make a lousy "control freak" type of character; I appreciate that our directions forward have twists and turns, ups and downs, as well as the occasional detour or return to try yet again to find a way through the pitfalls and distractions to reach some wished-for destination. Such is life. If it weren't a little bit interesting to travel the journey, what would be the fun of the trek?Welcome to my neck of the woods, by whatever tag it may require being called...
California's heartland is one, big, relatively flat, open expanse. It's home to several million people, mostly clustered in the handful of bigger cities - Redding and Red Bluff to the far north, Chico, Oroville, and Marysville/Yuba City to the not-so-far north, Sacramento, Stockton, and Modesto at its core, Fresno and Bakersfield, to the far south. In between, there may be a hundred small cities and even smaller towns and placenames. 
The long way across, it's well over 400 miles long. The short way, side to side, it's 60 miles wide. Growing up, it was this gap between "here" in the SF East Bay Area, and "there" in the Mother Lode foothills and the grand Sierra Nevada beyond. At some point, after we moved out here, I realized there were some worthwhile scenes and settings out here in the flatlands. 
Orchards...
