Which trees have been special to you? — The climbing tree When I was a child I had a special tree in my backyard. It was easy to climb and had several branches that were just right for a child to perch on. Sometimes I would sit on a branch and daydream. I had no siblings, but I had a vivid…

A memory from my childhood in Southern California — Until this year I never noticed it. But now it seems every time I go for a walk I see honeysuckle. It’s next to the park. The neighbors have planted it in their sideyards. When I see it my memories take me back to when I first met it. Summer and weekends with cousins I…

I Miss Fat Cat Herb Farm. More than a place to buy herbs, it was a place to dream and enjoy the outdoors close to home. — People with dreams create businesses people love We first moved to our fourteen acres in Templeton California in 1993. Some of the first people we met there were the owners of Sycamore Farm, Bruce and Sandy Shomler. They and their herb farm lived a mile east of us. …

And you can’t bring back the loved ones who used to fill your empty house — Our former home where we spent some of the happiest and saddest years of our lives is vacant again. We moved in 1993. We’ve rented it out since then. Now it’s empty. Our tenants just bought a house of their own. We came to inspect and give the deposit back…

A house can seem very different than it used to be when its history changes. I realized this as we were getting my husband’s house (formerly his parents’ home)ready to rent. One tenant had moved out and we were getting the usual cleaning and maintenance done before a new tenant…

How did this get to be an intersection? — Why is the truck here? Obviously the owner lives in the house on the other side of this lot. He needs to park the truck somewhere. What intrigues me more are the street signs that form this “intersection.” It’s a street corner with no streets. And I can’t help but…

You’d have to be blind to miss it. — I never saw a purple cow, and I never saw a purple car, either, until I spotted this one parked on a Paso Robles Street. I can’t imagine anyone parking this and not being able to find it, no matter how crowded a parking lot might be. Of course, owners…