"El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula" (Yes, that's the original.) I've lived here almost half my life and I did not know. I never took the time to investigate until now.

In 1769, a Franciscan friar who was exploring California named a river "Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula".  In English it means "Our Lady of the Angels of Porciúncula".  That was just the name of the river.

Now for the city.  As a settlement was established,…

The visibility was so fantastic on Monday, January 6 that I saw a "new" island. New for me at least! It was clearly visible from 38 miles off the coast of Palos Verdes.

At first I thought it was a ship but it did not move. Then I thought it might be a Google barge but I had not heard anything about that in the news. Plus it was fairly large-ish for a ship.

Turns…

Unbeknownst to many of us, there is a swirling stew of plastic trash between our beautiful California coast and Hawaii. It was discovered in the late 90’s and it contains pretty much every type of plastic item you can imagine. It’s all there including, cigarette lighters, pens, water bottles, flip-flops, razors, tooth brushes and, of course, the ubiquitous plastic bag.…