intheknow
for the love of trees By DOANE YAWGER
A
trees, especially oak trees. Williamson said there are 14 species of oak trees from all over the world planted there. He remembers his family driving up and down the fields throwing out acorns here and there. After a while Williamson’s forest became a site for the weddings of his children and grandchildren. Now it’s a habitat for wildlife, with hawks, owls, foxes, rabbits, possums and gopher snakes. Blue jays, doves, woodpeckers and other birds take up residence in the trees. At first the area was full of crows but the owls soon pushed them out. Williamson, 84, said his property feels peaceful and therapeutic, like a living mental health clinic. That’s a feeling his gardener of 35 years, Homer Hernandez, shares. He has been Williamson’s steady gardener since retiring from a fulltime, stressful career with Foster Farms. “I don’t come out here for what he pays me. It’s beautiful! I enjoy it so much. You would never guess what’s back here. I wish people would love trees more,” Hernandez says. Williamson said he and his wife Barbara had a little cabin in Jenness Park near Strawberry. But they soon expanded their Atwater property into their own retreat or forest.
bout three miles from downtown Atwater lies an area that is totally different from the surrounding and unassuming agricultural countryside. For the family that settled there almost 60 years ago it became an oasis - make that an urban forest - that boosts spirits to this day. Retired marriage-family therapist and tree advocate Dr. Jim Williamson has lived on the 15-acre property since 1962. He and his late wife Barbara used to call it “Whispering Hope” and people in the area call it “The Woods.” It’s a place where serenity is a product of the dense planting of oaks, redwoods and all manner of trees, shrubs and flowers. “Our neighbors thought we were crazy, creating our own forest,” Williamson chuckles. In 1962 the Williamsons were able to buy the property from farmer and dairyman Paul Rethwich; they had been driving in the area and walked through his field of corn and alfalfa which was about ready to harvest, with gentle winds blowing around them. When they first knocked on Rethwich’s door to inquire if the land were for sale, he told them he wasn’t ready to sell but that decision came just a few years later. Soon after buying the property, they started planting
PHOTOS BY CANDY PADILLA/ 209 Magazine
“They are our silent servants; that’s what they are. This (forest) is the most important thing to our family. It’s a legacy for the kids.”
209MAGAZINE.COM
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F E B R UA RY/MA R C H 2022
1/25/2022 11:20:06 AM
