Many years ago, this spot along a busy road near Lake Natoma was destined to be the home of a large office building; but the structure was never built, because homeowners up the hill from the site complained, protested, and generally made life miserable for the property owner. Ever since then, the lot has been fenced in and more or less neglected. So I was happy to spy these California poppies growing happily amidst the desolation. I was also glad that I could shoot past the chain link fence to capture their irrepressible bright colors.