St. Monica's Catholic Church

St. Monica's Roman Catholic Church is on a very broad way going westwardly out of Willows. It has many a row of Italian cypress. Cupressus sempervirens is also called graveyard cypress. It is a mournful tree, common in cemeteries.

Common Grounds

Common Grounds is just north of the center of downtown in Willows. It has inside, outside, and upstairs seating. The position of choice is a plumb red cushion in a small room off the main room. Good place to hear elderly locals bluntly sum up the world as of any mid-morning and to consume heated sticky buns.

Willows

The town of Willows is located in the Sacramento Valley, off Interstate 5, about half way between Sacramento and Red Bluff. The town as a whole does not have the sense of humor that New Pine Creek has, or Pt. Arena. It does, however, have some pairings worthy of the weird.
Downtown, in one building, are The Ark and Holi Market, back to back, one facing west and the other east. Just north of downtown is a building that houses both the Car-Mar-Ray Association and Paratransit Services. There is the way the entrances to the sacred and the secular play with architectural traditions. And, then, scattered about are '76 Joy Street, the Law Offices of J. Mark Atlas, and the beauty salon Identite, with an acute accent over the final "e."

Watercolor Restaurant

Watercolor Restaurant is on Soda Bay Road on the south shore of Clear Lake in Lake County. It's a fine place for humans to observe fellow humans. A man discusses the breakup of his marriage, "What I did wrong, according to her, was leave, but the only thing I did right was get out of there." Later, on his way out, he said to the waitress, "You're the cutest thing I've seen around here." A woman on her cell phone said to her teenage daughter, "A beer has less alcohol than wine. Drink one beer and relax." A man among four men said, "I used to be a successful contractor. Now that they're putting me in jail (laughs), I wanted to have this going away party." The croissant raisin bread pudding is excellent, even in the absence of decaf. "We're all heavy hitters here," the waitress said.

Edgewater RV Park

Edgewater RV Park is on Soda Bay Road, on the south shore of Clear Lake, and is the choice RV Park among many on the lake. Its location at the foot of Mt. Konocti means cool and wet, and cool and wet supports a diversity of plants not found elsewhere on the lake. A pier out over the water allows unimpeded access to sunsets reflected in still waters.

Zephyr Zen

In Zephyr Zen in the town of Clearlake on the shores of Clear Lake in Lake County, is an alabaster statue of Buddha holding an alabaster statue of Mary, illustrative of the next stage in the development of American religion.

Steves Place

The yellow of Steves Place is hard to miss. It is in the town of Clearlake on Clear Lake in Lake County. The sign says Compassion Center, but it looks not all that welcoming. Another sign says, "Ring door bell: clerk will let you in." Steve is a big man with a rough voice, "We're a head shop, basically. We sell medical marihuana, and you have to have a prescript for that." Steve also sells bongs, clothes, sunglasses, and trinkets. A bible on the counter was open to II Samuel.