Hollister Through an Artist's Eyes

Original painting by Pen King
The photo is courtesy of Cindy Mackie.

Okay, dear Take 25 to Hollister Readers, you certainly recognize this block in downtown Hollister. That's right. It's the east side of San Benito Street, between 4th and 5th streets. Isn't the painting beautiful?

This oil painting of Hollister is owned by Cindy Mackie, who bought if from Ebay about two years ago. She said that she plugged in "Hollister California" in Ebay's search box and Voila!

The painter is Pen King. Through Google, I learned that the artist was born in China in 1964 and is now based in the United States.  He studied at the Guangxi Arts Institute in Nanning and became a full-time professional artist in the mid 1980s. Pen King creates original-knife textured paintings and does custom commissioned work from photos. Click here to read an article about the artist. 

Thank you, Cindy, for sharing the painting with us.

An Elephant of a Branch

The magnolia tree (at least that's what I think it is) in the center of O'Neill Drive is humongous. But, I had no idea its branches were so thick and enormous. I wonder when the tree was planted.

Magnolia trees are native to Southeastern United States and can grow up to 100 feet tall. California doesn't have the rainfall that the South does, so the heartiest trees in the right conditions may reach 80 feet tall.

Click here to see a full shot of the evergreen tree on O'Neill Drive, which I took last March.

A January Sunrise in San Benito County

I saw the sun peeking through some clouds over the rooftops this morning. I sooooo lucked out.

Want to know what the sky looks like in other parts of the world? Check out Skywatch Friday.

You Don't See Many of These Anymore

"Look, look," I said to the Husband, as we approached the corner of San Benito and South Street. "Newspaper vending machines!"

I get excited when I see blue mailboxes, too.

I've gotten old.

Clothing for Little Princes and Princesses on San Benito Street

Today is Worldless Wednesday. To check out posts from around the world, please click here.

Orange Beauties

These gorgeous plants are near the southeast corner of West and South Streets.  If I identified them correctly, then they are a type of aloe vera plant. Interestingly, they ought not to be in bloom yet. In general, they bloom during summer, but can also burst forth in the right conditions. That goes to show how crazy our weather is and how our climate has been changing.

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday. Click here to check out what bloggers around the world are posting.

Toro Petroleum in Hollister

A few weeks ago, I came across this enormous tank truck while walking along McCray Street.  It was parked at the gas station with the four silo-sized gas tanks, near Walgreen's. I've always been curious about that station, but never enough to learn about it. Until now.

The station is one of four outlets for Toro Petroleum, which has headquarters in Salinas. It offers fuel and oil products and services to the farming, trucking, manufacturing, automotive, food machine, marine, and aviation industries. Wow! The things we can learn about our town from the Internet. If you're interested in learning more about that station on McCray Street, check out Toro's website.