Warning: The photos on the following pages will bring a smile to your face. They’re adorable! Readers from Santa Ynez to Lompoc to Paso Robles submitted more than 300 images of their non-human companions as part of this year’s competition. A panel of in-house judges narrowed them down to the top three in each of […]
Chloë Hodge
Fowl play: Generations of peacocks have made Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards their home
Keith Kelsey never intended to become the caretaker of 300 peacocks. He just wanted to bring a few birds home. About 45 years ago, Kelsey and his brother rounded up seven peacocks from a ranch near Highway 101 south of Pismo Beach and transported them to their family’s property in See Canyon. The birds settled […]
Robin Greenfield on finding food, medicine, and connection in the wild
OUTDOOR KITCHEN For most people, food comes from the grocery store. For environmental activist and educator Robin Greenfield, food come from forests, lakes, roadsides, and fields. Greenfield is currently immersed in what he describes as “a year of foraging 100 percent of [his] own food and medicine.” There are no grocery stores, restaurants, gardens, supplements, […]
Take a hike with Hikes and Dykes
TRAILBLAZING The first time Nixie Margiotta (they/them) told me they were starting a hiking group called Hikes and Dykes, I had two immediate thoughts. First: That’s hilarious. Second: Why didn’t I think of that? The name alone feels like something dreamed up in a late-night conversation over cheap beer—cheeky, irreverent, and impossible to forget. When […]

