Fremont

The Saturn sat sulking in the back of the garage. Abandoned for a week it seemed, no daily jaunt to the nucleus of the high tech industry. Next to it the Explorer ticked smugly as it cooled, the sweat of it’s labors dripping from the condenser of its air conditioner. It had done it’s work, two kids to school, a run to Starbucks, then home again by way of the grocery store.

The 2 ½ car garage stood sentinel in front of the 2.5 bath, 3 beds and large family room that made up part of the half million dollar single family home. The house quietly sucked electricity into its Tivo, its fridge, its air conditioner and the PC. It breathed out a quiet hum of perfume scented laundry air. It listened inattentively to the bumble bee hum of the gas powered leaf blower at the end of the close. It sheltered Meredith from the heat of the day, a quiet seclusion for her work from home, self sufficient self employment. Her cell phone rang with the pomp of Elgar, her 10 am phone conference with Sally.

“So where’s Martin?” inquired Meredith’s marketing department.
“He’s gone to Austin for customer integration, they’re going live this month” Sally had an implicit NDA as the friend of the wife, and so far had either rewarded the trust, or not known what to do with the information she didn’t realize she had.
“While the cat’s away…?” Sally was eager for a girls night out, they both deserved it she reckoned. Silicon Valley widows, collecting the wages at the cost of losing their husbands to the incessant grind of the techno mills.

The evening was planned and sitters secured. A girls night of vino, karaoke and maybe a visit to a club.

Just some random excerpt from my novel.

Silicon Valley or Sodium Valley?

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This is a satellite view of Silicon Valley, actually it is the salt evaporation basins in the Fremont area, on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay.

I like the green ponds, they seem to be brushed in.

If you click on the "View Larger" you will see a splash of lime green, look carefully and you will see that part of the image was taken at a different time, half that pond is white.

If you soom out you will see a different set of images, here you can see the ponds are flooded with bay water, and the salt coloration is not as vivid.

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I wonder if there is a Google Earth chronological view, where you can go back in time.