Tag Archives: REDONDO BEACH

Days Gone By

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“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and
the thrill of creative effort.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Days Gone By.jpg

Most Angelenos may not know, but for generations Los Angeles has been renowned as one of the world’s great mural capitals. This is due mostly to the government-funded Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which hired hundreds of artists who collectively created more than 100,000 paintings and murals and over 18,000 sculptures across America.

The WPA Project was part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression (1929-1943). Some of the 20th century’s greatest visual artists were employed by the Project under the guidance of the WPA.

Thanks to the WPA, there are three beautiful oil on canvas murals at the Redondo Beach post office painted by Paul Sample in 1937. These striking, colorful, insightful murals are an urban canvas expressing the history, concerns and aspirations of a community during the turn of the 19th century.

Although I don’t visit the post office often these days, when I do go to the post office I always enjoy seeing the murals. The murals remind me of the history and beauty of Redondo Beach in days gone by.

Shine On

 

Farewell to Palms

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“Madame, all stories, if continued far enough,
end in death, and he is no true-story teller
who would keep that from you.”
Ernest Hemingway

Farewell to Palms

The landscape crew began work on the landscape renovation. Every morning we are awaken by cement drilling and chainsaws.

We were notified of the renovation, but none of us were aware of how much pollution from sound and debris this would entail.

We’ve lived in our place for over ten years and everyday we watched the world through a beautiful seventy-five foot Fruit of the date palm tree. Today is a very sad day for me because they cut and removed the palm from our view.

Our Palm Tree

My husband never liked how the palm tree blocked our view and was a haven for crows, squirrels and other critters. I liked the tree because it gave us shelter from the hot sun during the late afternoons and I liked all the birds and squirrels. One year we even had a momma squirrel raise her family of babies in the tree. See my post: Squirrel Family

I realize it’s just a tree and there’s other more important things in life. I know nothing lasts for ever, but it still doesn’t make it easier to say farewell to palms.

Shine On