My stories are the result of mixing scenes from my life with a splash of imagination.  To give you a sense of the backdrop for the scenes, I have sketched out the major acts of my life below.

I grew up in the 1950’s – 60’s in the small farming town of El Centro, California.  My father owned a grocery store a few miles out of town where I worked after school and on weekends when I was old enough to drive there.  I got to know many of the regular customers.  Each had his own story.

I attended Pomona College, a small liberal arts college near Los Angeles.  Both the college experience and the big city broadened my perspective.

By the time I graduated from college, the Viet Nam war dominated American life.  Mine was not immune.  A couple of years in the enlisted ranks of the Army, including a year in Viet Nam, exposed me to a whole new group of people and experiences.

When I was in the Army thinking about being out of the Army, I decided I wanted to study whales for a living.  That may seem like a fantasy, but I took it one step at a time and ended up studying dolphins (they’re actually small whales so I was still on target) for the US Navy in San Diego.  Continuing with my one-step-at-a-time approach, I later completed my PhD at UCLA, and expanded my interests to birds using a “bridge study” on penguins, birds that are as close to dolphins as  possible.  Completing my shift away from dolphins, I then did studies on contaminant effects on birds for the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  As you might imagine, studying wild animals opens doors for many unique experiences.

Along the way, I got married.  Our family expanded by dogs, kids, and kids’ pets.  Raising children, as any parent will attest, brings experiences one would never have or imagine otherwise.

After I retired I explored writing fiction.  I also got interested in gardening and studied with green-thumbers to become a certified Master Gardener.  New vistas on the page and in the dirt opened for me.

The kids left home and were independent before my marriage dissolved. I moved to new digs and, using my Master Gardener’s training, converted my “meh” back yard into my own customized Chinese garden.  It sports a gazebo, water feature, barefoot-friendly walkways, and a variety of foliage and flowering plants, most with origins in Asia.  It is my “Ahh, yess!” place and a peaceful haven for writing.  You can visit it at cliffordhuischinesegarden.com.

My life kept getting fuller.  Soon after moving, a beautiful woman parachuted into my life. After discovering that we were soul mates, we did the only reasonable thing we could: we got married.  She adds new dimensions to each day.

New stories still bubble up from the parade of scenes of my life.  And I add them to this website when they do.