Every year in April, Fallbrook throws a big party downtown and 70,000 of our neighbors from here and from nearby towns join in to celebrate the avocado – almost doubling our population for the day. It’s a big deal in Fallbrook!

What is Brooktown? It’s home! Technically it’s slang for Fallbrook – the cool kids in the 1960’s came up with it – at least that’s the story I was told at first. Then I heard that it first appeared on a high school yearbook in the 1930’s. But whenever it originated, it’s the insider way to refer to Fallbrook…







The view from Maddox Nursery – rolling hills, groves, oak trees, a few palms, scrub brush, and beautiful homes tucked away in places you never see from the main roads. That’s Brooktown!



It’s far too easy to drive past Dinwiddie Preserve and never really discover it… But it’s worth discovering!





I loved the color of the red blossoms on this tree – they may look small in the images, but they were huge.







In the 1880’s olive trees were planted all over Fallbrook, and between 1913-1915 olives were the biggest cash crop in the area. There was even an olive press here, for making olive oil. Remnants of those old groves can be spotted all over town, but the prettiest stand of olive trees is on the corner of Mission and Live Oak Park Road.



And finally some weeds from in front of Elder House.

So that’s it for my contribution to the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook! Some of these same images are currently appearing on Fallbrook.org and earlier today I discovered that my 2005 cover image for the Sourcebook is appearing on the front page of FindFallbrook.com – some images have a long life, and it was definitely an image that defines what Fallbrook is all about!

Palomares House is one of the oldest homes in town – built in the 1890’s. It’s currently run by the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, and community events are held in the house and on the grounds – which are beautiful. The teaser images of the tree in bloom I posted a few weeks ago, were made on it’s grounds.

The first two images were made on March 31, and the last two on March 20, 2008.

Live Oak Park is Fallbrook to me. It’s oak trees, rolling hills, a stream, and bright blue skies and birds flittering and fluttering, and peace and beauty.

These images were shot from March 24-26, 2008 for the Fallbrook Sourcebook. I think only one made the final cut for the magazine, but I love them all!

Los Jilgueros isn’t a park – there’s a trail that you can walk, but you must not disturb the wildlife – and the wildlife is abundant! A stream runs through the 46-acre preserve, and there are areas where it spreads out into wetlands, and other areas that are more pond-like. It’s a great spot to bird-watch or just walk the mile-and-a-half path and enjoy the scenery.

These images were shot on March 21, 2008, for Fallbrook Sourcebook.

The sky was amazing today! Cirrus clouds from horizon to horizon.



That’s the balcony off my bedroom – and the view from Elder Street.







I could look at these clouds all day. Every way you turned, it was like an abstract painting in the sky. Just beautiful!

The last three images were shot at the gas station as I was filling up my tank – and paying $4.09 a gallon. First time ever I’ve paid over four dollars. Thank heaven for a beautiful sky to distract me…

Every Friday morning, on the corner of Main and Alvarado, in the Village Square, the farmers in town take over! You can get locally grown produce and flowers AND locally grown and packaged products like honey and gourmet kumquat sauces.











In 2005 I shot the Fallbrook Farmers Market for Fallbrook.org, and then on March 21, 2008 I shot it again for Fallbrook Sourcebook. If you want to see my earlier images, go to http://www.fallbrook.org/tourism/farmers-markets.asp

Last month I spent a week shooting all over town – I shot at Palomares House, Dinwiddie Preserve, the Farmer’s Market, Los Jilgueros Preserve, and in all sorts of hidden out of the way places that only long-time Brooktown residents know about. It was great! And now those images are in the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook – it’s the only glossy magazine dedicated solely to the Fallbrook/Bonsall area – and it comes out once a year – today!

The cover features six of my images – the only one I didn’t shoot is the food – the rest are my work. I also shot the cover in 2005 – that year it was one image of an artist painting in a garden – so typical Fallbrook stuff!

I also have quite a few images inside the magazine, and now I can blog some of those images. So more tomorrow!

And finally, here’s my ad that appears inside – I’m really happy with the way it turned out!

We’re in the middle of a heat wave – and I love it! It feels like summer… So I went for a walk along Pico Promenade today, and shot all the flowers in bloom along Fallbrook Stream, in Fallbrook California.



















This last image may be my favorite of the day – it’s my favorite fence in front of the old Packing Plant – again!

Exactly eleven days after the last post, this is what that same tree looks like. Just amazing. I really do prefer the first image – but I can’t get over the opulence of the second image. Spring is on a rampage!

And catch the orange California Poppies below – our state flower, and one of my all-time favorites!