Hollyhock Farms

Emily, Emily, Emily

Yup, that's her name and creativity is her game.  For a twelve year old guest I was expecting what normally occurs with youngsters...digits tapping a mile-a-minute of some electronic gadget...nope, none of that.  She took to our bed and breakfast establishment and morphed it into her idea of a Harry Potter destination.  Kim and I, as well as our other guests, were mesmerized by her seemingly endless adaptations of her construction details.  I grew up with Beatrix Potter, but there is a new Potter in town and this one has all the makings of a miricle, instilling in young people a fertile imagination, exactly what was missing from the matrix for so long.  I suspect we are going to hear about Emily in the future and Kim and I wish her well on her journey.  What a refreshing breeze she is.

Why we do what we do

Another great weekend at Hollyhock.  Eric and his honey, Shannon and friends Chris and...oops, sorry lost her name, did the wine thing...and cooked at the Bungalow (we got the leftovers).  But also visiting were Charles and Lisa...Charles is an inigma.  He drives up in a new Mercedes and one of the first things he wants to do is drive my tractor.  It has a large bucket and a large disc attached to the rear end and I've had few requests to drive it.  He jumps up on the thing, gets a quick heads up on levers and gears, and away he goes.  He reminded me of me...always that youthful, inquiring, high energy "got to do that" approach to life. The other part of his enigmatic aura was that he was somewhat reluctant to fess up as to what he does.  That's cool.  But, I suspect from his obvious contacts in this area, and where he went, and who he met, suggests something in the entertainment field.  You can't kill the detective in the detective.  I'm guessing something in the televsion or film industry, and having had an experience with a large agent agency in L.A. (Paul Kohner) back in 1988 before that six month writers' strike, I'm thinking that Charles is probably a director or even has an agency...and to protect people from throwing scripts through the windows of his Mercedes, he just keeps a cool demeanor.  That's also cool...but just to show you he is on the write track (pun intended), I do have a script.  Hah!

We've Met the Enemy...Who is it?

Frankly, there is not much to love or boast about when it comes to the run-of-the-mill American.  We tend to be totally consumed with gadgets to the point that polite interchange between people doesn't occur anymore.  I remember when cell phones first came on the scene and some schmuck would start yucking in a restaurant and the waitresses would ask them to go outside.  Now, you learn about Herbie's goiter or Helen's hernia and you sit there and take it.  Our neice came for dinner the other night and I think she said three words, this after being prompted.  She stuck her nose in her "device", whatever it was, it's hard to keep track, and texted the whole night away.  I mentioned to friends that I wanted to go to France for four or five months so I could understand the French...now, I want to travel this country to try and understand, again, who and what we are.  I'm not liking what I'm seeing and hearing thus far.  I am beginning to understand why the French don't like us very much.  Sorry.

The Old Guy Puts it Down Like it Was

Now what am I getting into?  Well, after so many tales over breakfast, I have decided that it's time to put this stuff down on paper.  From age 8 I recall events, people, places and epiphanies that have shaped a bizzare, if not whimsical, life.  I have spared no one, including myself.  I found this wonderful coffee shop, Amsterdam, in Paso Robles and it is there that I put all this stuff down amid the hustle and bustle of people living their lives.  I am close to finishing the thing...I call it "Episodes" and I have queried a literary agent in New York City to see if there will represent it.  Hope you guys are pulling for the old guy.