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Laguna Beach their Liverpool? I’m not much of a groupie. I haven’t followed the music scene, either locally or further afield. But that changed last year when I got the idea that the South Laguna Community Garden Park should have a rock concert to raise money to buy the garden...

Gifts From the Past Does anyone remember green stamps? Back in the olden days instead of getting points on your credit card for making purchases we got green stamps. They accumulated in a drawer all year and Mom said if we pasted them in the redemption books, we could turn them...

Giant in Distress Whoo..whoo, whoo…I heard the repeated haunting calls of owls early this morning. They were coming from the giant Torrey pine tree across the street from our house. Today they seemed to be asking, “How..how how much longer will we have this sheltered lookout...

Painful Cost of Rising Home Prices Our neighbor had a garage sale for the second weekend in a row. After 10 years in the small board and batten cottage, she has to move. Her rent was just increased to $2,800. There are many ways we hear the pulse of the community. Garage sales...

Not enough to do? “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.” Can anyone in Laguna say that? I never make the society pages in Riviera or Laguna magazine, resplendent in my shimmering gown. But even my less-than-star-studded life seems to be packed with one event after another. Sometimes...

Appreciating Change It’s been 50 years since the UC Irvine campus opened, and there has been ample publicity about how the university has grown and all its academic achievements. But as we think about it, it’s not just the campus, the research and the students, UCI’s influence...

Joyce McElree Lee Lowell, a grandchild of the “pioneer mother” of Laguna Beach, Catherine Aurora Brenizer Skidmore Brooks, died Sept. 1 in Long Beach. She was 95. Lowell’s mother, Anita Skidmore, was one of four siblings from the marriage of Catherine and George Skidmore. Her...

Reunion Proves a Strange Trip The projection screen was down. There was equipment and fussing around with it as author Nick Schou prepared to talk about his 2010 book, “Orange Sunshine, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World.”...

Be Bold, Breathe Easy Personalized repairs—that’s what you got at Karl Klass Electric downtown on Forest Avenue. I took my toaster there once and when I picked it up there was a piece of stale toast in one of the slots. “I just wanted to show you it works,” Craig explained. No...

Yours Forever Rolling hills and beauty in many shades of green. Woods, fields and little hamlets with landmark church steeples…my brothers and I made a pilgrimage to our childhood hometown in rural Wisconsin. We had been invited to the 60-year celebration and dedication of a new...

Jolted Into Action There was a strong thump and a jolt. Then I realized I had just been rear-ended. It was noon last Friday, one of our hot and humid summer beach days. Coast Highway was congested with cars going both directions. It seems like there are more beach goers than ever...

Seeing Beyond a Label “You should be aware that not all gays feel well represented by Bob Gentry,” a gay politico told me. “Why not?” I responded. It was 1990 or thereabouts and I was a new naïve councilmember. I didn’t know Bob Gentry when I was first elected, except as a...

Historic Preservation, Working or Not? That’s the question the Heritage Committee, Planning Commission and City Council will be struggling with in the months to come. The city’s historical preservation consultant has been examining the inventory of historic properties that was...

Miracle or not; the Dilemma of the Jacaranda Just lying here all weekend, it was a quiet Memorial Day, no sun, no beach-goers, lovely coolness. My leg swollen and black and blue, typing on the computer while keeping my leg high, trying to get the swelling down. When the mind is...

Reclaiming Our Water Equilibrium So how’s your water conservation going?  Ours is going great.  We have a new gray water system.  This is how it works.  I take a bath and don’t pull the plug.  We scoop the water into a bucket and splash it on our lawn or other garden plants. ...