Today I was planning to feature a completely different episode of Visiting, but then I happened to read the blurb from this one, which originally aired in July 1999. Since I actually mentioned foraging in my post on Monday (Earth Day), it felt only fitting to take a look at some serious foraging right in the heart of Los Angeles. […]
If you love to soak in really hot water and love the out of doors, you have to watch this show. Huell travels to the Eastern Sierras in search of a good place to have a soak. Hot Creek Geological Site is nestled in the Inyo National Forest close to the town of Mammoth Lakes. We take a ride out […]
Eadweard Muybridge (born Edward Muggeridge) was a deeply fascinating personality and a pioneer in the field of photography. A native of England, he spent much of his life in the western United States from the 1850s through the 1870s. He began as a bookseller, basing himself in San Francisco around 1855. But it took a traumatic accident with a runaway […]
I’m not sure how many people actually realized this, but March 31 was Cesar Chavez Day, a U.S. federal holiday, observed since 2014. I suspect most folks don’t stop to think how important Mr. Chavez’ accomplishments are — and I must include myself in that number. I did grow up hearing his name frequently on the evening news, and I […]
This is another one of those episodes I had passed over several times until the topic was suddenly brought to my attention by Facebook a few days ago. Huell actually visited the Madrona Marsh Preserve a couple of different times for separate shows aired in 1995 and in 2003. Today I’m featuring the latter, California’s Golden Parks, which highlights the progress of this very special natural area and the opening of the Visitors Center; but to compare the change since the mid 1990s, you can check out the earlier episode of Visiting. Vernal pools are such an important and precious resource, and the fact that the city of Torrance chose to set this land aside — right across the street from a huge shopping mall — is just amazing. Much of the credit goes to the Friends of the Madrona Marsh, local citizens who donate their time and energy to keeping non-native plants from taking over. And that Facebook item I mentioned? It was a short episode of Pat Pattison’s Best of California, providing a right-up-to-date look at Madrona Marsh today! Rescued from future development and a history of oil drilling, the 42-acre Madrona Marsh Nature Preserve in Torrance is one of the last remaining vernal marshes in Southern California. The non-profit, volunteer organization Friends of the Madrona Marsh fought vigorously throughout the ’70s and ’80s to save this delicate natural habitat. Although Huell’s visit shows us a great success […]
Huell did more than one show about the L.A. River, and when I chose this for my topic today it took me some time to decide which episode to feature. I finally realized that this half-hour segment, originally aired in 1994, was the best place to start. The L.A. River has been popping up in the news lately following heavy […]
I had a post about a historic California ghost town randomly pop up on my Facebook feed Tuesday morning, and the name sounded familiar to me — so I went into Chapman University’s archives and found this episode of California’s Gold, originally aired in August 2008. The town was named after the Rand Mountain gold strike, at the Yellow Aster, […]
I apologize in advance if today’s featured episode gets your stomach growling or wakes up your sweet tooth! This segment of Visiting originally aired in January 2001, but I thought it would be fun to take a look at it on Valentine’s Day. Fake food is certainly one way of avoiding unwanted calories, and this company is apparently still very […]
Whenever I think of Seal Beach the first thing that comes to mind is Leisure World, the huge retirement community based in this Southern California coastal town. That’s because I still recall a few visits my family had with a lovely older couple who lived there when I was quite young. I have at least one photo of Grandma Pat, […]