Years ago, I used to know an old Portuguese family out by the coast who had been there since 1860-70's and had a huge dairy farm (Spanish land grant from earlier). One of the largest in the area. Their milk barns were huge and had metal corrugated roofs on them and the pigeons/birds would ruin them in a few years to the point of leaking from poop and rust. I helped out around the place on the weekends and summers and got sole hunting rights for their property. Every so often I'd bring my Benjamin 22 pellet rifle and an old Stevens 22 with a box of BB caps. Became a field day for the heard of cats that hung out below. Helped deliver a stuck calf one time and had all the fresh milk right out of the 1000 gallon tanks I could drink...just the best. Called me one time for a Bobcat that was spooking the cows and the Bulls and thought I would get a rug out of it but he had the mange. A couple of bucks over the years and all the quail we all could eat and lots of great fun meals with them and sitting on the front porch at the end of the day! When I got back from college I rode out to see them and the gate was blocked off...some scraggly grunge road out on a quad with an AK strapped on his back...
Synanon!!!
Turned out the older brother (George) of 4 had passed away and the taxes on the land were eating them alive and having to sell off acreage every year to pay them. The rest threw in the towel as George was really the glue of the family. George used to tell me stories of the place and their heritage and that the original place was "as far as you could see from a particular hill top". Many a story and memories for me and their family, now...Mostly sad that they had to let it go to those jokers.