Early CV’s Aum Temple of Universal Truth California has always been a place where alternative religions could take root and flourish. By alternative, I mean outside of the standard Christian faith of Protestant and Catholic. Our valley has been home to three such religious movements: the Ananda Ashrama at the top of Pennsylvania Avenue, founded […]
iDriving Our New Computer (Pt. 2) Last weekend as I was making sure all of our assorted clocks, watches, coffee makers, appliances and cars had all “sprung forward,” I remembered that I hadn’t yet written Part 2 of my tale of technological troubles in driving the car we bought last summer. My bad. To recap: […]
The Route to the Crescenta-Cañada Valley in 1880 In 1880, the Crescenta-Cañada Valley was beginning to attract settlers. The Lantermans and Williams had been selling lots for a few years in La Cañada. Dr. Benjamin Briggs was soon to buy the Crescenta Valley and open it up for development. So about this period we begin […]
A Wondering I Go. Again. Because it’s been several months since I last purged myself of mental “wonderings,” please bear with me while I do a little pre-spring cranial cleaning. First up, a few weather wonders left in the wake of our recent record-breaking storms: I wonder … which local Southern California newscaster was the […]
Hindenburg Park Memories My good friend Art Cobery recently gave me copies of letters he received from former CV resident Paul Brown. They’re full of Paul’s memories of our little valley, particularly during the 1930s when he was a boy. One of those letters has to do with Hindenberg Park in the ’30s when the […]
Music, Memories & Heart Murmurs Let me state up front and unequivocally: I was not yet on planet Earth during the 40s. Or much of the 50s, for that matter. That said, I did grow up with parents who loved the music of the 1940s, an era of the big world war, big world leaders […]
Allies! Two promised updates: In its first month, marijuana sales netted Colorado $98 million in taxes, $20 million more than estimated. One finding from our December site visit was made by Ivette Ruiz, our grant project officer from DC, who said, “Overall, coalition members are dedicated to advancing comprehensive substance abuse prevention planning and advocacy […]
Atta Boy for GASFCU On Feb. 12, I received a call from my credit union, Glendale Area Schools Federal Credit Union, the Risk Management Dept. After I verified who was calling me, [the caller] asked if I was conducting business in Colorado; since I was not, obvious fraudulent activity was occurring on my account. There […]
Hack In The USSR (or) Olympic Dreams & Disappointments One of the easiest things anyone can do once every four years is to sit on the couch, watching TV coverage of the Winter Olympics and carp, complain and generally criticize the genetically blessed, gorgeously fit athletes who don’t live up to media-generated expectations. So here […]
World Famous Goats of the Crescenta Valley In the 1920s, the Crescenta Valley was home to several goat farms for the production of goat milk. Goat milk was then, like now, considered to be a health food. Milk goats were a hot item, particularly in the health-conscious Crescenta Valley where many invalids had moved for […]