The Path Less Traveled

To know me is to know that I was born and raised in Southern California in the mid-1960s — land of palm trees, perpetual sun, pristine beaches and, of course, Hollywood. While we loved L.A., my father longed for something more akin to the towns he had grown up in, rural places such as Wichita, Kansas, and Pampa, and Amarillo, Texas, — the last, a place we visited often (typically in the heat of summer), where my uncle had a small working ranch and was the only true cowboy I’ve ever known (think Yellowstone without the grand buildings and acres upon acres of land and ranch hands.)

We stayed in the City of Angels until I was 12 years old, then moved to a (literal) cow town called Temecula — home of horses, dairy farms, one local store and wineries, which it is best known for then and now.

For all these reasons, I knew how to ride a horse before a bicycle, could saddle up a cantankerous pony that my uncle owned named Black Beauty (who would toss you into her water trough if you weren’t in control or paying attention), and I watched my mother ride a beautiful quarter horse named Ginger, a barrel racer that could stop on a dime. (My mother had no idea of the horse’s instincts when stopping and got thrown the first time she rode her.)

As an only child, when not dreaming of when I could ride a horse again, or better, have one of my own, I would read A LOT and write stories on my grandparents’ manual typewriter. You would think this would naturally lead to a writing career, but for some odd and unknown reason, I decided I wanted to become a lawyer in my young teens. To this day, I’ve no idea why. That career path would lead me to declaring a Political Science major at San Diego State University, at a naïve 18 years old. My passion was underscored when I attended a symposium hosted by the esteemed F. Lee Bailey. It was then that I envisioned myself standing up in court waxing poetic about why my (most likely very wealthy, but also very guilty) client was innocent. It wasn’t until I was utterly bored and getting Cs and Ds in my Poli Sci classes that I decided that maybe I wasn’t the legal scholar I had thought or hoped to be, after all.

Being ever practical, I thought about careers that included reading and writing, and I decided that Journalism seemed to be a better fit. When I started getting A’s and B’s, I knew I had made the right choice. So, while I’m not investigating the next Long Island (or LA) serial killer or reporting from a worn-torn country on the front lines, it is genuinely heartwarming to return to my country roots by writing and editing for this publication.

With the help of my once editor, and now Head of Content, Brian Ethridge, I look forward to bringing you, dear readers, the information you most want in CCN’s premier publications.

Please let me know what we’re covering well and what we could be reporting on better by sending me an email at cindy.ohara@catcomnet.com. I can’t wait to hear from you!