Appreciation walk ends with a special encounter

Serendipity recently led me to a hidden treasure and introduced me to a pixie philanthropist who was a muse for one of the world's great philosophers.

This delightful encounter came about through a chance invitation after church on Sunday. It was a dear friend, Lila Sandschulte, who set the hook by telling me that the widow of famed cartoonist Charles M. Schulz would be a special guest at an appreciation walk later that day.

I drove directly to the location – the goldfinch arroyo – after the church service. In doing so, I stepped back in time to a tucked-away place that I had blithely driven b...