My post about Homer got a lot of response, most of it focusing on the "ColossalMarts" and their detrimental effect on smaller local businesses, which was, I guess, the point I was making. But there are a lot of other disadvantages to the invasion of "ColossalMart."

The thing that hurt me the most personally was the disappearance of the polo field that used to be right across from my shop.

For the first several years after I moved into my present location there was a huge open field right across the street. It was owned by an old retired farmer who used to grow crops on that land as well as the acreage around it. Yolo County has some of the best agricultural land in the world. But even though he was retired, he refused to sell the land. Instead, he let a local equestrian club use it and they turned it into a polo field. They maintained it year round and every summer there would be horse trailers, lots of people and horses over there and they would play polo.

So anytime I was asked where my shop was, I would say, "It's right across from the polo field." The inevitable response was always, "There's a polo field? In Woodland?"

After the old farmer died, his family sold the land and now it's completely paved over with "Marts," burger restaurants, etc. But the developers made one concession to the previous use of the land by erecting a huge mall marker on the street with a sign at the top that says "Yolo Polo Plaza," just so no one forgets.

D.D.