Our Central Valley
If you spend any time on California Highway 99 south of Madera, you are aware of the palm and the pine.
Two trees, the palm representing southern California and the pine (actually in this case a cedar) representing northern California, have been in the median just south of the Route 12 exit for decades.
The trees represent the center of California, the midpoint between the Mexican and the Oregon borders. The trees let drivers know they are crossing from the palm trees of southern California to the pine trees of the north, or vice versa. The trees were planted decades ago. But with no solid record of why they were planted, there have been all kinds of stories about whose idea it was to create this symbol of the center of the state…