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Santa Paula's Revolutionary Pastor

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Hosted by the  Social Concern Action Committee  of the Universalist Unitarian Church in Santa Paula, the screening of the award winning documentary “ Weaving the Past ” brought viewers into the life of a revered Santa Paula minister, whose early life confronted the 19 th  century socio-political revolution in Mexico. The challenge to the filmmaker, Walter Dominguez, was the concurrent development of the discovery of the history of his maternal grandfather, Emilio Nieves Hernandez, and the history of Mexico. Dominguez’ research led him to the Malacara side of the family (surname of Emilio’s mother), the Camargo side of the family (surname of Emilio’s first wife Fausta), but the origins of the adopted name ‘Hernandez’ went undiscovered. Why is this chronology important? It is through the labyrinth of the family tree that Walter Dominguez uncovered the role his grandfather Emilio Nieves Hernandez played in 19 th  century Mexican history. For hundreds of years Mexican power was in the hand
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Carl Charles Gordner: Civil Servant from Indiana to Arizona by Sheryl Hamlin German Roots Carl Gordner was born in Boonville, Indiana in 1892 into a community with many German roots. In fact, Germans were the largest immigrant group to Indiana before World War I. Carl's father Louis was born in Indiana, but Louis' father was born in Germany. Source: here In 1910 Indiana had the twelfth largest population of residents with German ancestry. Many Germans taught their children the language of their ancestors and were ostracized during World War I. (Source: here ) But there was no evidence of this ostracization in the Boonville Gordner family. Carl registered with the Army in 1917. The picture below of Carl in uniform was taken in early 1919. Marriage and Family Pre-War Before the war, Carl married Alma and two daughters were born: Jane and Lois. Jane graduated from the University of Arizona in 1941. Jane played the piano and Lois the violin. According to friends, Alma w
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Hassayampa River Preserve: Touching Three Centuries

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In the 19th century, the land contained an important train stop and a working ranch. In the 20th century, the property transitioned to a dude ranch. Pictures from this era show upscale tourists in lounge chairs enjoying nature. Later in the 20th century a developer planned homes along the river and boating, but this changed and became a trailer park. By the 1980's, the property was for sale and was bought by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). TNC initiated a plan to return the once lush riparian oasis to its original state. A nature preserve was created and over the years of The Nature Conservancy stewardship, many of the natural flora and fauna returned. There are now over 300 species of birds. Download the month-by-month guide to flora and fauna.  In the 21st century, TNC partnered with Maricopa County to include the Hassayampa River Preserve into the State Park System. Many pictures and events are shown on the Maricopa County Parks website:   Our tour guide, Eric Hough, was extrem
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Garden Triplification

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  Hello to all gardeners. Three dwarf olives can be seen in the  foreground. To the left are three cassia plants then three pyracantha. In the last planter are prickly pears that go up the hill and red yucca. Triplification is a way to effect order and calm for me. At the top of hill are creosote, prickly pear and rosemary, some new and some existing. All are watered manually. I built planters, hauled old dirt up the hill and added new dirt to planters. Lots of new rocks added to hill not shown. About 5 months to complete. Picture taken 5:30 am and temp is about 64. Gorgeous morning. 
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Decoding Yart Art

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  Is Yard Art a reflexion of your hopes and dreams, your subconscious desire to create, your innate hoarding personality, your desire to be cool or a form of unrestricted self-expression? Rust is de rigueur with vintage cars and farm tools making the top of the list.  Metal artists make and sell giant flowering Ocotillo cacti, mama Javelina with babies following (high cuteness factor) and of course the stagecoach pulled by horses. So, ponder this: in several years when the gas combustion engine is no longer manufactured, will we see old car and truck engines become yard art? Each of the pictures below has a story. All are in within a block of my new location in Wickenburg. 
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Roadrunner Meets Audi

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The Roadrunner is not uncommon here in the high desert, but an Audi is rare. It is illegal to kill Roadrunners according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 but I am told people have tried to eat them. The homage to the Roadrunner now lives on a 2007 Audi A4 with about 87,000 miles on the odometer. Why this 14 year old Audi has only 87,000 miles might be attributed to my general distaste for driving, although I have made numerous trips to the SF Bay area and to Wickenburg from various locations in California.  But,why this 14 year old Audi sports the Roadrunner hommage is happiness. Roadrunners make me smile. They used to visit us in Palm Springs and would walk right into the house when the steel French doors were open. Heaven.  While the vehicle of choice in the high desert is the Jeep, the Audi feel sufficiently juxtaposed to the local culture that it could be considered a freak. The four-door Jeep Wrangler with desert trolling wheels is the local status ride and the open, two-d
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Easter Quiet New Plantings

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Gorgeous day....quiet...sun...the quiet is overwhelming, ....  quail running around on the hill ... bunny rabbits in the yard looking for food...no javelina.... Three days sifting rock from the sandy soil in this area at the entry of the house yielded a lovely place to plant. I carried each bucket of sifted rock to various places on the perimeter of the yard for later use in reconstruction when the fence posts are removed.  (Long story)   The new plant is a Sego palm in whose container a small fan palm took root. The two are conjoined at the root ball, so it was necessary to plant them together. The Sego, since it is a cycad, cannot endure much sun. Hopefully this area facing north may work, I will add several red yucca plants to complete the arrangement.  Ideally the conjoined palm is a dwarf so it doesn't get 30 feet tall although it might be a statement for a future generation.... Next for the watering!  Sego plants do not like much water, but regular palms like water. Sprinkler
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