Memory Monday
The Adventure Continues… Cornish Christmas
This week I’m revisiting a Christmas-themed episode of California’s Gold, one I originally featured back in December 2016. The Sixteen to One Mine that appears in this segment opened in 1896 and is still in operation. I don’t know about you, but I’m still finding it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that Christmas is a mere 12 […]
The Adventure Continues… Poinsettias
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 […]
Memory Monday, Week 156
With the holidays drawing ever closer, it seems a good time to look back, both today and next Monday, at some slide images from Christmas past. I shared at least some of these pictures back in May 2017, but happily I recently had the chance to re-scan them and come up with more vivid and realistic colors. They were shot […]
Memory Monday, Week 130
This week, in honor of the holidays, I’m sharing some very nostalgic images dating from 1978 through the mid 1980s. I’m still working out exactly where and when some of them were shot, but they feature my niece and my two nephews surrounded by family and having fun with some new toys. Here’s hoping you are all finding ways to […]
Memory Monday slides redux, Week 34
This week’s slides are a somewhat hodge-podge collection from late 1971 and early 1972, all stamped with the same processing date of June 1972. I don’t know the dates they were actually shot, but I’ve mostly tried to arrange them in order according to the small numbers printed on the slide frames. I have no idea what my gift was […]
Memory Monday slides redux, Week 30
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This week I have a few images from my very first Christmas; after looking through these slides, I only wish there were more of them. Although I don’t have any actual memories from this particular Christmas, I do remember some of the items pictured — at least those that were still around a few years […]
Memory Monday slides redux, Week 22
My images this week date from 1956 and 1957. Although most of them were labeled with dates, I’m not always sure of the locations — like my first three photos, which seem to have been shot at the same spot. I’d love to think they were in the area of the Nimbus Dam (those hills in the background look very […]
Lost in Cabela’s
I’ve written before about visiting the Cabela’s store in Fort Worth. It’s become a bit of a Christimas tradition for the Big Guy to make a stop there to shop for fishing equipment. This year I was surprised to find myself in parts of the store completely new to me — a huge aquarium and a separate alcove that rivals […]