This is a story of people in a place. The place is Fig Paradise, an over-60, gated community in Mapplethorpe Valley, California. It lies within the town of Hot Stone and consists of one hundred homes and half that number of condominiums. There are community pools, tennis, pickleball, and bocce courts, a dog run, and a fitness center. There is a restaurant exclusive to the community and its guests, and a pro-shop for the golf crowd.
Fig Paradise got its name from fruit orchards previously on the property. It is said the land was once owned by Amelia Earhart years before her fateful flight. Located in the Sonoran Desert, the community enjoys eight months a year of fine weather. Then summer brings temperatures well over one hundred degrees. Snowbirds depart for cooler clime. Year-rounders, the desert dwellers, remain.
The folks who reside in Fig Paradise are a mixed bunch of appearance, temperament, belief, and persuasion. In short, they are like people everywhere, except they are old.
