After coming home from a Folsom Lake hike with the Big Guy yesterday, we both collapsed in front of the TV and somehow found ourselves watching a couple of great Vincent Price movies: The Last Man on Earth (1964) and Master of the World (1961). I had never heard of either of them, but they got me thinking about this […]
What do you do after you’ve run through pretty much all of your own family photos and there seems to be nothing left to share? Well, you might start sharing the lost or discarded photos of strangers! Part of my motivation for this project comes from discovering the Museum of Lost Memories on Instagram. I may never find any photos […]
This morning I realized that creating posts on my phone while away from my computer lately has led me to accidentally use the same photos more than once since Christmas. I guess my remark yesterday about still having images to share is really true — especially if I reuse the same ones over and over! So even though it’s taken […]
When we fly from California to Texas for the holidays, I always leave my larger cameras and lenses at home and rely instead on my compact Fujifilm Finepix AX and phone camera. So I do miss out on the occasional wildlife shot as I’m strolling around the man-made lake near my in-laws’ house — although sometimes if I’m paying close […]
I just happened to read a news report last night that a beloved landmark along the coast in Montaña de Oro State Park, the Spooner’s Cove Arch, has collapsed, and people are sharing their memories of visiting the spot. I’ve never been to this part of the California coast, but I recognized the name from my Huell Howser archive list. […]
You may recall that in previous years I’ve posted photos showing the inside of the Cabela’s store in Fort Worth, Texas, as seen during my late December visits. It’s really impossible to overstate how seriously the folks in Texas feel about fishing and football; and since the Big Guy isn’t into football, we usually end up visiting the giant Cabela’s […]
Although I’ve long been familiar with the name and reputation of Will Rogers, I have to admit I don’t know a whole lot about the man himself. So it was great to hear some personal recollections from his youngest son in this episode of California’s Gold, which originally aired in 2001. I would also say that the family home, now […]
Two weeks ago for Memory Monday I shared photos of the kids tearing into their presents during Christmas 1983, and this week you can see them after the toys were all assembled and ready for action. You can probably tell this was Southern California (Anaheim) by the fact they were wearing short sleeves and no jackets despite it being late […]
This Wednesday I’ve decided to repeat one of my favorite Christmas episodes that I originally featured back in 2018. Just as I wrote the first time I shared this 2004 episode of California’s Gold, I thought it would be good to take another look at where and how these beautiful Christmas flowers are grown and their history in Southern California. Although the Eckes were a huge part of the poinsettia industry for nearly 100 years, the family sold their ranch in 2015, and the job of producing all those beautiful poinsettia plants now belongs to a Dutch company known as Dümmen Orange. I would note (again) that the ‘crazy’ colors that frequently show up in the stores this time of year are not a special variety but are dyed with a substance that doesn’t harm the plants. And if you’re wondering about the best way to care for your poinsettia plant, the Laidback Gardener has some really great advice on his blog. Albert Ecke immigrated from Germany to Southern California in 1902 and opened a roadside stall selling fruits and vegetables. By the 1920s his son Paul started selling some of the wild poinsettia plants that grew in the hills above their stall. From these small beginnings, it is now estimated that over 90% of all flowering poinsettias get their start at the Paul Ecke Ranch. Join Huell as he meets Paul, Paul Jr. & Paul III, who give them […]