(CNN) California evokes images of sunny beaches, majestic mountains, Hollywood celebs, coastal highways and all variations of good times.

But lately, the Golden State has elicited visions of a different kind -- houses buried in mud, scorched hillsides and flu-stricken hospital patients.

Californians have dealt with all that and more in these first, whirlwind days of 2018. Pretty much every day so far, the state has made headlines for one calamity or the other.

But don't underestimate California's ability to bounce back from almost anything.

"We're pretty resilient here," said Bill Hopkins, president of the Southern California Preparedness Foundation. "These communities, like Montecito, they're a little more close knit."