Trending Topics
Mushroom Madness 
Fungi can cure or kill, nourish life, and also decompose it back into soil. Fossil evidence for fungi is limited, but the ability to analyze molecular data has led to revelations about the evolution of this extraordinary family of...
Fool’s Gold: The Myth of Tiburcio Vasquez 
“And still of a winter’s night, they say,  when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon  tossed upon cloudy seas,    When the road is a ribbon of moonlight  over the purple moor,    A...
Billions in Flight: Migratory Birds 
Autumn doesn’t officially begin until the equinox on September 22, but all across North America birds are already on the wing—billions of them. Migration times and destinations vary based on the species and variables like weather and food sources—some...
One-Room Schoolhouse 
Back to school. A hundred years ago in Topanga, it would have been on foot—and often barefoot—to the little, red, one-room schoolhouse by the creek in the bend of the dirt road.  Public education in California was still relatively...
Food

Family Secrets 

Cranberry Relish It’s a tart, ruby-red cylinder of quivering, glistening jelly, and it’s been part of America’s Thanksgiving menu since 1941. It’s estimated that Americans consume 5,062,500 gallons of jellied cranberry sauce every year, most of it at Thanksgiving...
Food

Perfection Salad 

Letter to the Editor – December 2021 Regarding Suzanne Guldimann’s article on Gelatin I always enjoy Suzanne’s articles, well-written, researched and interesting. However, in reading her “Festive History of Jell-O” (Topanga New Times, Vol. 2, Issue 23 topanganewtimes.com/2021/11/19/breaking-the-mold-a-festive-history-of-jell-o/ )...
Feature

Barbara Lee Campbell 

Barbara Lee Campbell, born August 13, 1936, passed away on October 3, 2022, at home with her family surrounding her in all their love.   Barbara moved from Michigan and made Topanga Canyon her forever home in 1973. A mother...
Feature

The Power of Clarity 

There are certain parts of Topanga Creek that run clear; you can stoop down in the shallows and, on occasion, see aquatic life darting about. Similarly, when our thoughts are unmuddied and energy flows unobstructed, we can see our...
Feature

Clothes Make the Human 

It’s fall.  What are you going to wear? Autumn is the season for back-to-school.  It may mean back-to-a-physical workplace, and back to wearing pants or otherwise dressing the nether region below the frame of the Zoom camera. The shopaholic...