Otto Reynolds of Upper Ojai passed away this morning. Today I’m singing one for him.

When I was twelve, I moved to Upper Ojai to the home of my dad’s girlfriend at the time. It wasn’t long before I became aware of the legenday Carl Hofmeister: rancher, captain of the Search and Rescue team, and de facto Mayor of Upper Ojai. He was larger than life (though technically quite short). You didn’t want to trespass on his property.

Years went by and my husband Bill and I made our life here in Upper Ojai. Bill joined the Search and Rescue team, and I got to know Carl a little bit. I really got to know Audrey, his wife, from the 3 am phone call: “Hello, this is Audrey. Wake up your other half: there’s a rescue.” More years went by, Carl retired, and Bill eventually became the captain of the Upper Ojai team himself.

Carl passed away the other day, and today I was helping draft his obituary. And that is a strange story of how things can come full circle in ways you least expect them to.