"California is very different from where you live," he said. "Let me show you."

Uncle James took them to the backyard where the branches of his lemon and orange trees were heavy with brilliantly colored fruit.

"Can we have an orange from the tree?" Robbie asked.

"Take your pick," Uncle James said.

Then the twins noticed his palm tree, which shot straight up into the sky like an arrow.
"I've never seen anything like it," Robbie said.

"Southern California has a very unique climate," Uncle James said. He explained that it rarely rains in the summer and that the days get cool in the evening, even when it's hot during the day. In the winter, it almost never snows.

"And there's another thing," he said. "We get earthquakes."

The twins look confused.

"There are faults in the earth here in California," Uncle James explained. Earthquakes happen along these faults, sometimes. We can't predict them, so we never know when they'll come."

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