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Six Months After the End of the World 
For many, the devastation created by the Palisades Fire felt like the end of the world. Six months later, most of the fire debris has been removed, but stark reminders of the damage remain, as residents and local governments...
The Fire Followers 
As communities struggle to rebuild and recover from the devastation of the Palisades fire, nature is also in the process of regenerating.  When Topanga Canyon Boulevard reopened at the end of May, drivers were met not with bare hillsides...
Amusement Piers 
A pier is a folly, a highway to nowhere. Whether lined with fishermen or filled with the cries and clattering of a roller coaster, whether thick with the aromas of hotdogs and fries or freshly gutted fish, they are...
California Mustard: Beauty or Bane 
A beautiful but unwelcome tide of golden blossom is sweeping over the Santa Monica Mountains this year. The late—and light—rainy season has resulted in few native wildflowers but an abundance of mustard, an opportunistic invasive that thrives even in...
Books & Such

Beans 

It took me less than half a century to get around to reading one of the classic books of my youth, The Milagro Beanfield War (1974) by John Nichols. The book is set in northern New Mexico in 1972....
Books & Such

Remember the Ladies 

Less than four months before the United States formally declared independence from Great Britain, John Adams and other members of the Second Continental Congress were carefully building their case for political separation based upon the principles of British representative...
Books & Such

Bernie 

We have all been discouraged from judging a book by examining only its cover. While the idiom typically stands as metaphor suggesting we should not size up new acquaintances too quickly, it also contains the literal prompt to browse...