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I designed other parts of this garden, but this area was all hers. She'd been interested in cactus and succulents for a long time before deciding to combine her passion for these plants and her love of gardening to a problem spot in the garden. The results are jaw-dropping impressive and I was honored to visit this garden and get a private tour.

Every year I have the privilege a visiting a bonsai artist from Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai in anticipation of their annual show at the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz. This will be the clubs’ 31st annual show and will feature over 100 stunning bonsai trees developed by members and special demonstrators. I got the full tour of Bud Brown’s collection recently at his home in Boulder Creek plus some inside tips on how he grows such impressive specimens.

Peter Gelblum sits in the darkened, empty Park Hall in Ben Lomond and reflects on his former hectic life, when he was named One of the Best Lawyers in America – a life that saw him on the worldwide stage as part of the legal team that won a $33.5 million wrongful death judgment against O.J. Simpson.But he found that it was a profession with little creativity.“I hadn’t gone to a lot of plays,” remembers Gelblum of his 30 years working as a partner at Mitchell Siberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles. “I didn’t think about it at all.”But he found that it was a profession with little creativity.“I hadn’t gone to a lot of plays,” remembers Gelblum of his 30 years working as a partner at Mitchell Siberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles. “I didn’t think about it at all.”He certainly thought about drama when he walked past Park Hall shortly after renting a house in Ben Lomond in 2008.“I poked my head in one day and then got really involved,” he says. “Now it’s a very big part of my life.”In addition to serving as vice president of the theater board, Gelblum is currently directing Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a comedy playing on weekends through May 28.Life has come full circle for Gelblum, who earned a performing arts degree at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1974. He soon moved to New York City to ply his trade as an actor, working as a waiter between auditions.After a brief stop in San Francisco to work as stage manager for Hold Me!,Gelblum followed the play as an understudy when it moved to Los Angeles in 1977. He continued to pursue acting.Viewers can see him on YouTube as Ralph Donner, a psychopathic killer, on a 1978 Kojak episode entitled “Halls of Terror.”“I thought I’d made the big time,” he says, adding that his agent fired him after his big break. “I never worked again.”For “fun” he entered Southwestern School of Law and earned a degree summa cum laude in 1982. He soon began representing high-profile clients in civil courts of law.Goldblum fought for the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, against Napster’s ability to stiff artists, and represented the family of Fred Goldman, whose son, Ron, was brutally murdered along with Nicole Simpson in 1994 in the civil suit against O.J.Although Simpson was found not guilty of murder charges after a 1995 criminal trial, the Goldman’s filed civil charges in Santa Monica Superior Court in 1997.“It wasn’t about money,” says Gelblum, referring to the Goldman’s inability to pay for the massive legal tab. “There was no doubt in our minds that he (Simpson) had done it.”Gelblum oversaw the photographic expert witnesses and all of the punitive witnesses and evidence. Of the $33.5 million award, Simpson has paid the Goldman’s about $500,000, according to Gelblum.Gelblum’s work tying the photograph of the now-famous Bruno Magli shoes to Simpson is legendary, especially considering that the former football star said he would never wear those “ugly ass” shoes during his 10-day deposition.Twenty-two witnesses disputed Simpson’s version of the events.“He (Simpson) was very charismatic and completely unethical to truthfulness,” remembers Gelblum.Currently, Gelblum, who lives in Boulder Creek with wife Michel, is essentially retired, except for an appeals case in which he represents the heirs of Walt Disney in a matter that involves “several-hundred million dollars.”The couple discovered Big Basin while exploring an old-school style paper map while visiting friends in Corralitos. “We’d never heard of San Lorenzo Valley,” he says of their initial visit. “It was magical; everyone was so nice.”Gelblum was key in resurrecting the mountain theater company after it lost the rights to publish the stage version of Miracle on 34th Street, reducing the non-profit’s budget by about $12,000 annually.Gelblum and his attorney brother Seth came to the rescue and worked and at deal with the story’s owner, 20th Century Fox to get the rights back. He played Kris Kringle in the play from 2010 – 2012.Gelblum is currently working with a group of volunteers reviewing 30 plays that have been submitted for next year’s season. That number will be reduced to four productions.One thing is constant for Gelblum, and that’s believing in O.J. Simpson’s guilt as he comes up for a parole hearing this summer for a 2008 burglary conviction.“I don’t have any sympathy for him,” he says. “He got away with murder.”The Play: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Friday through Sunday, May 29, Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., Park Hall, 9400 Mill St., Ben Lomond

I got off the ferry at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island with my sister back in 2014. It was the day before 9/11 and we were visiting a family friend who used to live across the street from us. The next morning, we walked to the downtown area and found ourselves immersed in a memorial parade commemorating the 3rd anniversary of that terrible day - 9/11/2001.  We certainly didn’t expect to see a full-on memorial parade complete with marching band, bagpiper, banners, American flags and finally taps being played mournfully by a lone bugler. We had tears in our eyes. A couple weeks ago I came across the digital photos and videos I captured of that moving day. I don’t have them now as the original CD was burned in the fire. I will always have that day’s experience captured in my mind, though. Later that day my sister and I visited Pelindaba Lavender Farm. Seemed fitting to walk among soothing lavender fields. Spread over 25 acres with lake and Olympic Mountain views it is lovely. The fragrance from the oil of the lavender plant is believed to help promote calmness and wellness, reduce stress and anxiety - a good thing on a sad day.  For years when my sister was still here, we visited many islands in Puget sound touring destination nurseries and public gardens. Roche Harbor is a picturesque sheltered harbor on the northwest side of San Juan Island and this was our next stop on 9/11. This harbor is world all its own. Exploring the historic Hotel de Haro we walked among the blooming perennial beds. It was drizzling by then making the colors of the flowers pop even brighter. So many beautiful perennials - roses, anemone, heliotrope, tibouchina intertwined with coleus and lime sweet potato vine. Lovely. Even the Roche Harbor Lime and Cement Co. which dates back to the 1880’s and is now a tourist destination is landscaped beautifully. All in all, that day on September 11, 2004 will always be etched in my memory. It was a day to remember.    

Ocean fishing has been the best option for fishing as reservoirs are low and we are lucky enough to live close to the coast. Salmon fishing remains tough, rockfish are a great bet as halibut start to show and albacore tuna seem to be a mystery.If you would like to fish for “what’s biting” that would be rockfish and lingcod! The bay water is warm at 60 degrees and is full of mackerel. The mackerel can be a nuisance at times and also make great bait for ling cod. Anglers are stopping outside the Santa Cruz Harbor in the morning and catching live bait (mackerel) to use for ling cod bait. Halibut and the larger model rockfish also see the mackerel as a tasty food source.Private boaters, rental boats, and charters alike, have been scoring limits of rockfish and lingcod. The limit of lingcod is 3 fish and minimum size is 22-inches, it is common to catch your 3 ling cod and limit of 10 rockfish on an outing. Some anglers may consider if they need that much fish and opt to release the smaller lingcod and or large female fish that may be preparing to spawn. Halibut have been caught, but not as many as one would think. The conditions look very good for halibut but they are not showing up in numbers yet.Boaters have steamed offshore recently in search of albacore tuna with the warm water offshore it is a surprise there have been no catches. Boats hailing form northern California and Oregon ports have had success on albacore and the commercial fleet has started fishing with great success. The past few years have had large numbers of albacore along the Oregon coast as central California did not see many fish. Albacore are highly migratory and migrate East in the spring if they move east and remain North on the Latitude line they may not come south. This appears to be the case with albacore again this year. Anglers may have to go north to get albacore or go another season with no tuna for the home canner, we will see.I am always looking for fishing pictures for the column, if you have one please send it to my email [email protected]. Remember to ad who caught the fish and where it was caught.

It hit me as hard as though I had been punched in the stomach. The old boarding house had burned down and the rubble had been cleared.