This page is about me, Ken Figlioli, the guy behind this Central California site; how it came to be and how a passion and love for this unique area of the Golden State easily turned into something much more than a hobby…

The initial dream

I have always loved this part of the Golden State known as Central California.

My name is Ken Figlioli (the “g” is silent in case you’re wondering) and I had wanted to live here since I was about six years old and our family traveled to this area for a vacation.

I was born and raised in Southern California back when groves of oranges still grew, and there was actually some open space between cities.

But then, on that family road trip one year, I first caught sight of golden hills dotted with oaks and grazing cattle and was forever hooked on Central California.

I knew then it was a different sort of place, a special place, a place where I wanted to live.

Midwest Intermezzo

Quite a bit of life intervened after that family trip through Central California.

I attended college in San Diego, moved to Saint Louis, Missouri for work in biochemistry research and best of all, there I met my wonderful wife, Marti, who had moved to Missouri from Maryland.

Missouri is a great place with wonderful people, but it wasn’t home for me (nor for Marti). We never got used to the humid summers, cold winters and especially being hundreds of miles from a beach.

After living there for twelve years, Marti and I were able to move to Orange County, California.

Not quite Central California, but getting closer.

Home at last

It would take a few more years, but Central California is now our home.

We have a small rural place (40 acres, very small compared to some of our neighbor’s multi-thousand acre ranches) and I’ve been a WAHR. That’s a “work at home rancher”.

I raise Barbados sheep, some olives and lots of weeds.

The old joke about the farmer (or rancher) is mostly true: – It goes like this – He won the Lotto and was asked what he would do now. He answered, “I guess I’ll just keep ranching until the money runs out”.

That’s pretty much the size of it – a lot of input of time and money and not a great deal of output.

“Trying to make a living in a rural area can be difficult…”

What Now?

Living where we do, on the “backside of beyond”, can be wonderful in many ways.

There’s the quiet, the dark skies at night when the Milky Way lights up and shows all its splendor; the great variety of wildlife that visits and the wondrous beauty of nature as it cycles through the seasons.

Trying to make a living is a different matter, especially after a “certain” age.

I had previous work experience with an internet company so I knew there must be a way for ME to generate some income online. I looked around quite a bit, but nothing had much appeal.

Sure, I might have been able to make some money with some of the ideas, but I had no PASSION for any of them.

Don’t think that my work experience in a “dot com” made me a techie. Anything but. I mainly worked as a liason with real estate agents and in customer service. Anything I did learn back then is pretty much out of date.

I have a lot more to share with you about Central California and many interesting places and things to discover. So, it’s back to the FUN for me…what about you?