May 2012

To our fans and friends,

May26th would have been Jim’s 89th birthday. To celebrate I would like to share the home Jim designed and had built at Hollister Ranch west of Santa Barbara. The Ranch has quite a history from the time of the Chumash Indians to the Spaniards. Jim and I shared this very special home for many years. It was truly magical because of the history and our love of nature. Hollister gave both of us peace and serenity. The ranch had beautiful rolling hills and in the spring yellow mustard flowers would pop up. There were oak trees, the Pacific Ocean and so much more. At night we would sit in the Jacuzzi with the moon lit sky and millions of stars. On our property we grew vegetables and raised animals. We had horses, pigs, sheep and cows. But you had to be careful on the ranch because of the wilderness. There were also wild board, lynx and one time we saw a mountain lion so we always kept our two dogs, Miss Kitty and Matt, close by.

The real topper for Jim and the reason he built at Hollister was the ocean. There were 17 miles of beach back in the 70th and 80’s and there was nobody on the beach at that time. Jim would surf the great waves at “The Ranch”. I would body surf and collect abalone shells that had washed up on the beach. I still have about 100.

We sold the ranch in the 80’s because California wanted to put liquefied natural gas lines through the property. If you don’t know, LNG is extremely dangerous. We tried to fight them but in the end a few people can’t win against government and big business.

Jim never went back to the ranch after we sold it. I went back one time for the wedding of a friend. But like they say you can’t go home again. It just wasn’t the same. However Jim and I always felt so privileged to have spent those very special years at the ranch. That can never be replaced. God gave us a little piece of heaven on “The Ranch” and we will always be grateful. As we all know, memories stay with us forever.

As the poet Wadsworth wrote “though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass of glory in the flowers, we shall weep not but rather find strength in what remains behind”.

I love you Jim and thank you for our beautiful life.
Janet

 

 

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