A Lost World: Southern California Dreaming—Part 5

Things of Memory Think for a moment about a treasured photo of you as a child. Of the surroundings, of your smile or the frown. Maybe your childhood home is in the background of the frame, maybe you are playing on a swing at the park with friends. You get the idea. In viewing even [...]

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A Lost World: Southern California Dreaming—Part 4

A CHRISTMAS TREE AND THE FOREST For my mother and father, the tree had to fit these specifications: a six to seven foot Douglas Fir, fresh if possible, big blue-green needles, full branching.  And oh, yes. It must exude that wonderful resiny smell of the forest on a summer day, the trade mark so to [...]

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A Lost World: Southern California Dreaming — Part 1

THE  CHRISTMAS  CABIN Once upon a time there was a woodsy cabin, made of alder logs, set deep in the woods. This cabin was very small. That, however, made little difference. This is the thing: Each Christmas season, around December 6, the cabin was reoccupied for a month. Sometimes it stood firm, heavy with snow. [...]

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