Day Trippin’
As summer begins to wind down and cooler autumn weather is almost in reach some of us begin to hear the desert calling. The deserts of the American West are vast—they cover more than 500,000 square miles of the...
NIGHTBIRDS
We’ve all heard them in the still hours after sunset and before sunrise, but who are the birds that call to each other in the darkness of a Topanga August night? Owls? Certainly! But not all night owls in...
A Wee Bit Coin
Bitcoin? Real estate tokenization? Nope. This real estate token predates the current craze for blockchain assets by a hundred years. This coin was struck by the promoters of the Sylvia Park Development Company in 1924, and it offered the...
OUR LORD’S CANDLE
Hesperoyucca whipplei, the stately chaparral yucca, or Lord’s candle, is so abundant in the Santa Monica Mountains that we sometimes forget to take a look at this remarkable, beautiful mountain sentinel. Cover concept and design by Urs Baur. Too...
When Life Went Swimmingly
This daringly attired 1923 siren isn’t selling swimwear, she’s advertising cosmetics, and more importantly, the healthy, natural glow those cosmetics will impart. Beach culture? It evolved right here, and it came into its own in its modern form in...
Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers: the ones who tell us stories when we are small, the ones whose stories we miss when they are gone. This is a day to celebrate not only biological fathers, but...
FALLING APART SINCE 1929
The coast highway isn’t just a disaster waiting to happen, it’s a series of disasters that repeat over and over again. The people who built the local stretch of the coast route in the 1920s were in a hurry...
Hello Topanga Days 2024!
Get ready for the 49th Topanga Days Festival—three amazing days of music, food, artisans and activities, this Memorial Day weekend, May 25, 26 and 27, 10 am-7 pm, at the Topanga Community Center. We have all the details on...
I Love You Mom
Happy Mother’s Day! May is the month to celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, older sisters, mother figures, and female mentors who have been a positive influence on our lives. Thank you for everything you do—we wouldn’t be the people...
California’s Other Lions
When things are good, the California sea lion lives the ultimate beach lifestyle of surf, sun, and sushi, but sometimes this gregarious, vociferous, and intelligent marine mammal needs a helping hand from the humans who cause most of this...
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