Walnut Creek

When the economic collapse hit Iceland in 2008, one of the major concerns is that there would be no way to import food to Iceland, because there would be no acceptable currency with which to pay for said imports. This got me worried. Of course Icelanders have survived on the island for over a thousand years, and there were years and years when no imports came. But those were lean years. And that was also when Iceland's population was about 70,000 instead of 300,000. Would the island be able to sustain that many people, I wondered. My friend, a scientist, assured me that it would, because Iceland exports fish and lamb meat, which means there is a surplus. That seemed logical.

Now I am living in California, and although the San Joaquin valley is called "The grocery store to the world," I'd prefer the feeling that my food supply is not 200 miles away on the other side of a mountain range. When looking for a place to live, therefore, I always make sure there is at least some fresh water supply near by. I have done this everywhere I have ever lived, from my first apartment in college until the present day. It does not need to be a huge river--that only happened in Columbus Ohio--but it needs to be something. Right now I live near Strawberry Creek, and I am moving soon right next to Walnut Creek. I like my odds much better in Walnut Creek though, since there are less people out there.