By M.S. ENKOJI, Sacramento Bee

Traipsing through knee-high grass and squirming through thickets of tree branches, Chris Wemmer is leading an outdoor workshop that's changing the way we look at wildlife.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In the strawberry fields of pre-World War II Florin, Calif., a budding baseball star toiled, one of a family of 12.

From the moment of birth, Yosh Tsukamoto's destiny would never reach the major leagues, no matter if his batting average neared Ted Williams' or his glove was as golden as they get.

REDDING, Calif. -- Gazing out a wall of windows, Mike Lococo watched lightning stab the horizon, over and over, like a bizarre light show gone awry.

Three decades of battling blazes in remote corners of California told him one thing: That was trouble hurtling from the heavens.

Lococo is part of a unique national network that launches at the first sniff of wildfire.

College acceptance letters aren't going out to only new high school graduates. More than ever, it's their parents waiting for that letter.

The number of California college students between the ages of 50 and 64 rose 61 percent between 1986 and 2006. Among people ages 40 to 49, enrollment increased 32 percent. Overall enrollment climbed 33 percent during the same two decades.

As a child, Gena Wasley swept stalls and scooped manure in exchange for the knowledge that brought her here, to a small paddock in Orangevale, Calif.

Wasley, 35, trains horses for a living -- gentles them, if you will.

The golden years aren't what they used to be. Especially if you're gay.

Gay and lesbian boomers who've spent decades living and loving in the open are looking to age among others like them.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In the wilds of Yuba County before World War II, Ellie Sharp would join her male hunting partners for a drink at their club after a day of duck hunting.

The men were civil. Including her husband. And her father.

"I was just another member," she said.

But it was still a men's club.