EUREKA!

How does a town get a name like “Eureka”?

We guess it could have been “Wow!” or “Hot Damn” but learn it is California’s state motto. It’s supposedly what the 49‘ers yelled when they discovered gold here. I probably would have yelled something different

but they could not use it to name a town.

My wife, Francesca, grew up in the Berkeley hills with her best friend, Berit Meyer, living next door. Berit took to baking early on and now she and her husband, Brian Ferguson, have several bakeries and cafes in Eureka, California.

Somehow they are able to run their business while raising children, chickens, and horses. Camping out on their farm had us surrounded by 20-foot wide redwood tree stumps.

They seemed like the feet of giants and I suppose they once were.

After Brian explained the intricacies of bread baking (“It’s more an art than science”) Berit showed us how to collect eggs and feed her 45 chickens. The used

to raise goats but mountain lions kept eating them.

A bear ravaged a plum tree two nights before we arrived. Humboldt County is a wild place where marijuana is a huge cash crop. Driving around you could sometimes smell it in the air.

Berit and Brian prefer to make their living selling cookies, cake, and coffee.

JUST ANOTHER WEED

While marijuana is a big deal in Northern California its next to nothing back in western Illinois. We were humored to see it growing along the fence line at my cousin’s house. We visited them last month.