I met with a new editorial writer for the Sacramento Bee the other day–just a “get to know you” meeting over coffee. She’s from the Midwest, and wanted to know a little more about California and our 58 counties. The first thing I tried to tell her was that our counties are incredibly diverse in demographics, geography, economics, and more. But with someone new to this state, how do you begin to tell them just how diverse our counties really are?

How can you describe the still of a Sierra County sunrise, and compare that to rush hour in LA? You can try to capture the stark difference between the pounding surf and rocky shores of Del Norte County, and the warm water and sunny beaches of San Diego.