I remember my Great Grandmother once telling me that the small section of Orange County that my family called home was once labelled Rattlesnake Ridge. Growing up there, I can attest to this being very true. An interesting thing about rattlesnakes is how girthy they become. They don’t grow too long, but rather thicker and fatter depending on what they’ve been eating, which can include rats to even raccoons and cats. On this day, I was just a little girl, maybe ten at most. My

Borders and the cattle yard were my two favorite places to go. I stayed away from home where so much conflict was common. Like I was expressing before, it wasn’t uncommon to find me sitting at Borders and it was awesome martin and April were known to show. Occasionally, I would find myself alone… I had pulled up in my famous 1992 Blue Yukon, and had entered the Border’s cafe area and began drawing. Sadly, no one I knew was there, even after perusing through the aisleways hopi

This actually happened the other week. Many of my friends who have had the pleasure of hanging out with me in person can confirm one thing: Val is a magnet for weirdos. I was sitting at the McDonald’s with a good friend of mine. She had asked for some advice on gathering research for a story she wanted to write. We reviewed what she had already gathered and pointed out that she needed at least a file or notebook to put down her thoughts, wants, and needs for the story as she

“Crap, we need to change or we’re going to be running this show late.” My friend Jill and I scrambled for our FFA jackets, white blouses, and jeans. In case you are not familiar with FFA, it stands for “Future Farmers of America”. As high school students we got the amazing privilege to “Get-Out-Of-School-Free” card thanks to many local fairs where we showcased our Chapter’s herd of Angus Cows. Granted we had to shovel and care for 1,000 pound behemoths with snotty noses, but