The big news from the weekend are stories of the current Malibu fires. And the Santa Ana winds. As a former citizen of the state of Southern California, I do know a lot about those things. And of course I have memories. At the age of 16, one of my friends was from the Malibu area; he and his family had moved to Manhattan Beach, but he and I would drive to Malibu on just about every weekend and visit his boyhood haunts. In time, I knew the canyons and the roads and paths through them as well as he did. Fall and winter would always bring the Santa Ana winds to the Los Angeles basin and there were always fires. Always. And one year we decided to go and see a fire. Malibu was burning. The fire was somewhere up in Topanga canyon and we knew how to avoid the roadblocks. Pretty soon we were right in the middle of it all. Smoke and flames everywhere. Stupid kids! Driving a bright red 1950 Ford convertible with the top down. Of course we were quickly escorted down off of the mountain and later that day we watched the fire as it reached the ocean.
A historical note. The Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo noted the area of the Los Angeles basin on his maps as the Bay of Smokes.
I grew up in Hermosa Beach and my grand parents lived in Manhattan Beach. Another parallel.
ReplyDeleteReally!? Fascinating! And when was that? I lived in Manhattan Beach from the age of 5 (1945) until we were married in 1962. Went to Mira Costa (class of 1958)
ReplyDeleteMost to my Manhattan Beach stories are on my Family Matters and Working Blogs.
I lived in Hermosa Beach from age 8 (1953) until we moved to La Puente in 1961. I attended Redondo Union High my freshman and sophomore years. Hermosa was the ideal place for a kid to grow up.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what other odd coincidences we share. Military service? I was an MP in the Army 1966-67 stationed at Davis, CA.
Well, I was in the Navy from 1959 to 1965. It was Naval Reserve and I had active duty for two of the 6 years. I was a Hospital Corpsman and stationed with the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, NC. Great timing, as I was getting out as the war in Vietnam was heating up.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the beach cities were great places to grow up. Care free! But that was before they became a haven for the very wealthy. At the age of eight, it wasn't unusual for me and my friends to walk the Strand from Manhattan all the way to the pier in Redondo. Or walk to the Hermosa Biltmore to swim in the hotel 'plunge'.