before pouring concrete for the foundation, pins were driven down into bedrock, the cliff house will be directly on — will be pinned to — the Tuscan formation.

sometimes a little knowledge of geology is useful

worked the conversation around to real estate
all conversation is about real estate

two hundred years ago, the river flooded every winter and migratory geese and swans filled the marshes and tules; now the river is contained by levees, the marshes are gone, and the geese and swans winter in rice fields.

they poured 43 yards of concrete for the foundation’s walls and once the concrete sets, they’ll pour a slab for the garage directly on the granite bedrock.

on the ridge there are only a couple inches of soil, but in the valley, shaped by millennia of alluvial flooding, the soil can reach depths of more than 200 feet near the river.

geese land in the water feet first

as if on skis