Community

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 19 and 20

I walked through an Asian-inspired bamboo gate and entered another world: the world of bonsai. Some trees were blooming, others just leafing out, and some had trunks thick and gnarled, as if they'd been alive 200 years — and they had.

Fred Swanton embraced the role of promoter but left the technical side of the electrical business to his long-time associate, Ed Lilly. The entrepreneur was determined to realize his goal of damming the San Lorenzo for power. But, for once, the engineer believed that Swanton’s plan was not ambitious enough.

I was on my deck recently with a friend who commented that everything smelled so good that it must be nice to just sit and enjoy the garden. I thought to myself "What? How can I just sit when there is so much to do?" That's when it hit me, why do we create gardens if not to enjoy them?  So as summer winds to an end, celebrate what you've created and just sit and enjoy the fragrance, sights and sounds of your garden.