To the cabins on Christmas Eve

Molls, Jeff, Alice and Dave gear up for our Christmas Eve hike. Marinhood has never looked so beautiful as it did out at Steep Ravine.

This place makes me so happy.

Thanks Alice & Jeff!

State Beach Squirrels: How hungry are they?

“The squirrels are eating your food,” shouts a neighboring camper, waking us out of our stone cold slumber.

It’s my friend Sole and my first time camping in a while and we forgot to properly pack up and put away our cookout party goodies before crashing out. Oops.

I hop out of our tent to fight off the invasion, but not without first catching them in the act.

Those pesky squirrels opened and ate our can of Planter’s mixed nuts, half a bag of marshmallows, half a box of graham crackers and a brand new big-grab bag of BBQ potato chips that I had been looking forward to eating myself.

I imagine they had been waiting all night for us to finish up our party so that they could get theirs started. I felt bad for their little squirrel bellies. I wondered if they would learn from their binge eating mistakes. Missing my BBQ chips, I knew I had learned from my leaving out food mistakes.

With our squirrel situation under control, Sole and I grabbed morning coffees at the camp’s general store, chatted up some haggard regulars, and headed for the beach.

Leo Carrillo State Beach straddles the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu with camp grounds in the canyon on one side of the painted highway overpass and long beaches, tide pools and coves on the other.

Luckily there are no squirrels on the beach, but I did see a posting for a weekend workshop with the local rangers titled, “Mountain Lions: How scary are they?”

Yikes, I thought. Weren’t the squirrels enough to think about?

To begin your own brave adventure in Malibu, reserve a Leo Carrillo camp spot today: http://www.parks.ca.gov/

Walls have feelings too

When sensitive mod-rocker friends from Mexico visit you in LA, the Elliott Smith memorial wall along Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake is a perfect site to see and contemplate life and death and why people write what they write on walls.

Faux fall leaves forever

For as long as I've been frequenting Canter’s Deli on Fairfax, the back-lit plastic panels that tile the ceiling repeating the same photo of a fall leaved tree branch have never ceased to delight. The fake atrium casts a warm yellow glow on diners nestled into their booths, creating the illusion that LA has real seasons.

I daydream of raking the leaves into a heaping pile and then running through kicking up colors.

Staring up as I spoon in matzo ball soup, I feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Warm and fuzzy feelings await at Canter’s, 419 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036.

http://www.cantersdeli.com/

Clifton's Brookdale: Cafeteria Heaven on Earth

My sister definitely takes the prize for taking my mom and I on the most interesting Easter Sunday outing. Flanked by gold chain shops along Downtown LA's busy Broadway stretch hides a Disneyland-like cafeteria set in a woodland wonderland for all walks of life - even dudes dressed like flashy pimps (see feathery pink hat in photo below).

Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria opened in 1935 as the second Clifton's restaurant – the first being Clifton’s Pacific Seas. The interior is reminiscent of California Redwood groves with real waterfalls and brooks, and fake moose, bears, owls and deer.

A tiny tree trunk chapel served as our Sunday service as we crammed in to listen to a strange playback of “The Parable of the Redwoods." Huddled up and giggling, we gave thanks and praise for things like nature and forest animals, mashed potatoes and good health, and of course, each other.


But the coolest thing about Clifton’s is that founder Clifford E. Clinton treated customers as "guests" and none were ever turned away hungry, even though they had no money. During one 90-day period at the depths of the Great Depression, 10,000 ate free before Clinton could open an emergency "Penny Cafeteria" a few blocks away to feed, for pennies, the two million "guests" who came during the next two years.

Clifton’s Brookdale remains today the largest public cafeteria in the world.


Photo: My impression of the Great Depression.

For more info on Clifton's Brookdale, please visit http://www.cliftonscafeteria.com/

La Brea Tar Pits: Good grounds for time travel

When desire strikes to escape the day-to-day grind of the modern world, nothing resets a brain better than a visit to the La Brea Tar Pits. Just a few hours cruising around bubbling tar, excavation pits and lifesize statues of giant ground sloths, bears, sabertooth tigers and dire wolves is unbelievablely calming for a racing mind in need of a vacation from the present.

I like to imagine running wild in the ancient LA basin with the Ice Age animals. I think about how I would feel if I were suddenly stuck in tar - a mental exercise I highly recommend. The museum even has a tank that recreates how animals became stuck in the sticky La Brea asphalt.

Imagine trying to lift a leg to escape from an oily grave. Awesome, right?

For more info on the Page Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits, please visit www.tarpits.org

Ski week students discover stars and sea lions instead

“One bit my knee,” shouted Jim. “And another nudged Mr. Willats!”

“Yeah, and we were snorkeling around a lot of male sea lions, which is dangerous ‘cuz they’re territorial and will kill you!” added Genny. “Oh yeah, and manta rays jumped up right next to our boat when we were riding back to the island, too!”

I had only missed two days with the students from Piedmont High School, but it seems their rigorous five day camping excursion to study ecology at Espíritu Santo Island in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez hadn’t taken any turns for the worse – in fact just the opposite. The group was in great spirits, and even smarter and funnier since when I left them.

Yes, of course they were concerned that Britney Spears had shaved her head while they were away from their online and oh-so-connected lives (some of the girls arrived with French manicures and talk about what TV shows they’d miss while they were gone and which coffee is better: Starbucks or Peet’s.), but the Piedmont High School student group – eight girls and two boys – was also proud they were taking part in something “so cool” over their annual February “ski week” vacation.

“No one really goes skiing that much anymore,” explained Claire, an inquisitive and sharp-minded senior from Mr. Willats’ AP Environmental Science class.

Teaching at Piedmont High School for almost a decade now, Mr. Willats has taken previous student groups on outdoor education adventures in Costa Rica and the Galapagos; and this year, he brought the group to Ecology Project International’s newest program in Baja California Sur to participate in local scientific research and learn about island and marine ecology.

In addition to the students, Mr. Willats also brought his telescope to encourage gazing at the sky’s stars, moon and planets. It was a new moon where only a sliver of it shone, and even that disappeared after its early moonset over the Sea of Cortez. So, the sky was especially dark for seeing the brightest stars in their constellations, and even an extra moon or two when nature called with no private bathrooms anywhere on the island.

Under the sea, the students saw stars as well – sun stars, cushion stars, even chocolate chip stars – and they assisted Ecology Project International instructors in data collection concerning species abundance and substrate.

Instead of talk of ski slopes among the students this week, most inquiries were about how we should calculate species diversity, what the best strategies for conservation are, and when we would see whales, and of course once they caught wind of the news, theories into why Britney shaved her head.

The Piedmont group flies back to San Francisco today, all the wiser and more worldly thanks to Mr. Willats.

Day trip to Todos Santos & Playa Los Cerritos

Frappuccinoed in La Paz

Day 3 for me in La Paz and I spent the afternoon walking the malecon seaside sidewalk. The sun is about to set over the bay and my stomach is full with frappuccino.

Who would have thought? I feel so funny having a belly full of frappuccino in Mexico. I never buy those things, but this place is a trip, teaming with tourists cruising the malecon (mostly older white tourists). So, I figured why not embrace its odd mix with a frappuccino while working on my laptop at the sidewalk cafe. Afterall, I did spend the afternoon eating tacos de pescado and ceviche with a cold Pacifico at a carrito down the way; and the old man next to me just powered a huge piece of chocolate cake, so I don't feel so bad.

Here in La Paz, 'tis the season when many species of migrating whales visit the Sea of Cortez - gray whales, blue whales and humpback whales, among others. I haven't had any whale sightings yet and most likely won't until I set sea on Sunday for a six-day boat trip. But, here's a few snapshots of what I've discovered here on land so far:

A little skate park where the local kids kick it - un sitio que se llama Parque de la Amistad (Friendship Park).
My local wine store, La Cava del Patron. It's only a few blocks from where I'm staying. I told the lady that works there that I like to drink wine at home in Los Angeles. I told her that I couldn't believe such a nice wine store was so close to where I was staying here in La Paz. She told me, "El vino la sigue." Ha!!! Translation: The wine follows you. So true.A mural by world famous, marine life artist Wyland depicting, you guessed it, marine life.


Oooo, and the most exciting discovery is that La Paz will host their annual Carnaval February 15 to 20. Yessica and Aremmy are some of the chicas competing to be the Reina del Carnaval.

Pobre Aremmy...someone ripped this sign of hers and another one had chicle stuck to her nose.

Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it turns out.



For more information about the organization I'm volunteering with here in Baja California Sur, please visit www.ecologyproject.org. Ecology Project International does excellent work in environmental education and conservation involving scientists, students and teachers in the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador and beyond.

Oh no! The frappuccinos were two-for-one and they just brought me my second.

Golden rumps and wild ass on the EDGE

Yesterday the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) launched a new conservation program called EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct & Genetically Endangered) to safeguard some of the world's rarest mammals, although some may already be extinct. The program highlights 100 species selected because of the peculiarity of their genetic backgrounds and the degree of danger they face. Number one on the list is the Yangzee river dolphin (also known as baiji in Chinese). ZSL isn't even sure it exists anymore. Currently, they are conducting a series of fishermen interviews along the Yangtze to establish whether any baiji survive in the river. A recent survey by the Bajij Foundation was unable to find any and declared the dolphin functionally extinct. According to Chinese legend, this graceful freshwater dolphin is the reincarnation of a drowned princess. I wonder if there will be a new legend as to what will be her next reincarnation...

To sponsor an endangered species and track its conservation progress, visit http://www.edgeofexistence.org/. I donated £10 to their program focusing on the Golden-rumped elephant shrew (number 46), but I also recommend the African wild ass (number 13)!