In the Calendar Section of today's Times it was somewhat appropriate I spotted an article inside which would have commanded my attention on Page One, but somehow didn't. Huell Howser, a most worthy successor to those off beat local television eclectics of the 60's the Happy Wanderers Slim and Henrietta, is retiring from making new shows. One of his most moving segments was on the aforementioned Wanderers, not with us by the time of production but certain colleagues and offspring were.

His show was put together in a partly ingenuous way; I had a friend featured on two shows not aired apparently in years and he said, Huell calls, gets a few things established about subject and meeting time and you go from there.

Mr. "H" is an acquired taste, among his many variations on "golly" was a "My gosh" you were certain was drilled for "gosh" knows how long in commando fashion so in this spontaneous show he'd never invoke the version with the hard "D".

My friend was on an episode in which he gave Howser the low down on a vanished down town pocket railroad yard known as the "cornfield". An article in Los Angeles Magazine made Huell out to be somewhat of, let's say, the "monster" Rod Serling had Billy Mumy portray, but no one turned out to be banished to the corn field in this case.

Simpsons creator Matt Groening has permanently saved the show Howser did on [a] Bunny Museum in which near the end in an enough-is-enough tone he said the whole affair was overkill.

You no doubt have figured if this is enIirely new to you Huell has a web site with these episodes of "California's Gold" and "Visiting", among other title concepts, for purchase. I have always meant to snag the cornfield episode and it's on my impressive resume of tasks not done. This time of year one grasps for Xmas present ideas, and the episode could be one. However:

The awkwardly extended dust and dying cardboard belch that was the clearing out of my folks' house is with me, and a VHS copy of his visit to San Fernando Mission lay like the piece of driftwood ridden over by heavier pieces. That was a present, I should like to think probably viewed, but the forgotten gifts are a lot like the bunny museum. The figurines and pictures and plaques are of more variety but the hopping stopped a long time ago.

Have I just been depressing? How we sort the stuff is an individual thing, just like one's impression of the host and his various shows. My gosh, a cliche!