PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BRANCH

LA CITY HALL, 1968

Laguna PresbyterianChurch. It was a beautiful day on my weekend visit back to So. Cal.  It was a beautiful church.  

Dawson Cole FineArt, Sculpture Garden

St. Francis by theSea, Laguna Beach, CA

I just liked the view of this home, it’s color, and how it stood out among the rest of the homes on the block.

San Gabriel Landmark Burns Down

Long-standing Rexall Drug Store, sitting on the corner of the 200 block of San Gabriel Blvd and Live Oak, burned down in May of this year.  It sat at the end of a tiny retail lot with a local TV station and T-Mobile Meritas Wireless.  But the drug store is what grips the imaginations of those familiar with the area. It's where memories were forged over 50 years ago. The building is only two structures north of the nostalgic San Gabriel Lanes [I bowled here only once by myself and enjoyed a beer one evening after work] which is closed and occupies prime real estate in what has become over the last 15 years coveted by local businessmen. Someone saw fit to spare the San Gabriel Lanes. 

The last fire I remember in San Gabriel was 1999, short weekend fire that erupted in a science building at San Gabrielino High School.  Once the cause was determined and insurance payouts were made, the school, of which only one or two rooms were burned, had been demolished.  Between San Gabriel Blvd. and the rear of the school was a wonderful practice football field. That is gone.  These fires seem suspicious.  My suspicion is that they were both caused by arsons. Professionals.  And then managed by fire engineers or firemen who came on the scene in the midnight hours to douse it.  Let me explain.  The San Gabrielino fire brought in its wake a mega school that was repositioned for prominent posturing.  Its easterly wall comes right up to the curb of San Gabriel Blvd.  The school has a marquee that displays trivial but propagandized messages to the public. There is now a traffic signal at Scott Street when before the school there was none.  The design of the building is for maximum exposure.  The city wants its students to literally be on the world map and not recessed some 50 yards from the street.

The Tribune reports as follows:

A massive, three-alarm fire destroyed three businesses Thursday night and injured two firefighters, authorities said.

The fire caused an estimated $2 million worth of damage, San Gabriel Fire Department Division Chief Bryan Frieders said. The damage to the building was estimated at $1.5 million, and the damage to the contents was valued at $500,000.

The heat and intensity of the flames forced firefighters to take a defensive stance around the blaze, dousing it with water from the perimeter.

The first structural fire that I recall was the old San Gabrielino High School that was recessed on the west side of San Gabriel Blvd. just north of Valley at Kenmore Drive. The school burned down over the weekend. The stated cause were chemicals in a chemistry lab caught fire.  What, suddenly chemicals stored in a chemistry lab spontaneously combusted? Really?  That fire on March 20, 1999 was an arson fire according to the LA Times.  In that article, you have the same fearmongering by a School Board member, Nancy Trask, concerned that someone in the community started the fire.  Well, no duh.  And by "community" does she mean the San Gabriel community or the LA community or the Southern California community or a certain element from the local community?  She doesn't say.  She wouldn't be a politician if she weren't menacingly vague and casually equivocating. She says ""I hate to think anyone in the community could be responsible for burning down part of the school."  And couldn't the community also be someone within her own circles? It could be her community of corporate brokers, looking to make big bucks on insurance payouts and reconstruction projects.  I mean have you seen that new school.  The school has a new gym.  And a new baseball field.  But Trask has greater vision.  She overlooks all of these expenditures.  Don't get me wrong.  I love it that the kids have facilities that they can play in and on that make them feel proud and part of a community.  Wonderful.  But how was all of it paid for?  And now Trask is concerned, concerned that someone in the community started the fire. I love that word "concern" for how non-specific it is. You can use that word with anything and anyone. It can be used to express worry or can be used to indict someone of a crime as she uses it.  But that's what politicians do.  They blame the victims in a headlong rush to judgment and their charges make them sound like they're leaders in the . . . no, concerned leaders in the community.  I smell a rat. Trask knows contemptuously how her remark is used to hang a loose indictment on some local teenager and possible Chinese teenager. Given the fact that the 

Chinese population in San Gabriel has grown exponentially against other groups, one has to ask, Ms. Trask, were you being racist with your innocuous concern?   

Another fire in 2007 was responsible for the rebirth of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.  The principal at the time was a one Omar del Cueto, the loose-tongued hack whose wife, Linda del Cueto, was the head of staff relations for the Los Angeles Unified School District. No conflict of interest here.  Move along.  And certainly no corruption either.  Please, move along. The auditorium fire at Garfield High School in East LA was started by a 17-year-old boy, who was sentenced to six months in juvenile camp and ordered to pay partial restitution, authorities said.

The youth, who was not named because he is a minor, will also be placed on probation and ordered to stay away from the school as part of Wednesday's conviction and sentencing.

The freshman set fire to the auditorium May 20. The blaze caused $30 million in damage.

Built in 1925, the auditorium was an East Los Angeles landmark. School officials hope to rebuild the auditorium and have begun raising funds for that effort.  -- Ari Bloomekatz

No mention of parents' role in paying restitution.  No mention of how the 17-year-old is going to pay "partial restitution" or how much that restitution is or to whom he's going to pay it.  Does he pay the LA Unified School District?  Not word one.  

The details of the Garfield fire sound innocent enough.  A kid was playing with matches in the auditorium.  Things got out of hand.  A fire consumed the auditorium.  And burned down.  That's the "Little Red Riding Hood" version.  Who knows the details? This was also started over the weekend.  The campus is gated, we're all told for our safety, yet kids get on campus all the time at all times to get or to do what they want.  Does no one see the irony or conflict of interest? Fences destroy the school culture during the day but are used for safety at night to secure equipment.  But it doesn't secure equipment.

Something is going on here.  Obviously, insurance arsons work with fire departments.  That's why there is praise for firemen.  They manage fires.  Putting them out at a pace that fits their goals is one of their assigned tasks.  Even when WTC 7 came down it was the firefighters who were clearing people out of the area before the detonation signaled and you saw the Building come down in free fall.  I am not doing an investigation.  It's futile.  Asking questions about a fire department or the insurance company holding the policy is tantamount to asking the federal government who was responsible for 9/11. 

Who can forget how Glendale Fire Chief, John Leonard Orr, who was indicted for serial arson?  That was 1984, the year the Olympics were held in LA. Since September 11, 2001, fire department personnel have been anointed as "First Responders," setting them and their service apart and distinct from the rest of civil servicemen. 

The Rexall Drug store fire is under investigation.  It burned down three businesses and a corner lot on a boulevard that has in the past few years been marking itself as a prime retail real estate.  Builders in the area want large, glitzy, lucrative buildings where they can build condos above and retail stores, coffee shops, and professional services on the first floor.  A lot like the new condos and outdoor malls on Main Street in Alhambra near Atlantic Blvd.  I guess the only way for the owners to sell or hand over their property is to burn it down, collect insurance money in addition to the money received in the sale of the property.  The irony of it all is that the seedy sports bar just down the street survived.  If a cabal of civic leaders are set on gutting that block to make way for new retail centers, then they have a problem--they're going to have to get rid of all of the other stores. Who knows?  Maybe the fire was just an accident.

A dear woman from the neighborhood wrote, "I used to stop at that drug store if I had any change on me and buy the chocolate covered cherry candy bar. Tasted so good in those days! The lady was always nice that worked there but was always using something to lighten her skin. Very sad all of that area--good old fashioned living was all right there, the grocery store, the bakery and this one shop where we could buy Shasta soft drinks for 5 cents after we hunted for cans in the empty lot behind our home and turned them in for money."

Temple City

A BRONZE STATUE

Mr. Temple City

WHY A TRIBUTE TO THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC RED CAR?

Had someone told me who the artist was I would not have believed it.  At first glance, it is not immediately apparent that this is a statue of a guy catching a ride while holding out his hand for a friend.  Then it hit me--it's a reference to the Pacific Electric Red Car system that ran in Los Angeles from 1901 to 1951.  On Las Tunas, the Red Car ran from 1924 to 1941 before Huntington Drive became the main thoroughfare for Temple City residents to and from Los Angeles.  Interstate 10 didn't come into existence until 1957.  But why honor a transportation system in sculpture?  I mean of all of the events from the past, why the Pac. Electric Red Car?  Just curious.  Hey, I love that history.  But I don't always place Red Car history centered in Temple City.  If I were to pick a city with a monument to the Red Car it would be the broad, landscaped island on Huntington Drive that runs from Arcadia to San Gabriel through San Marino and into South Pasadena, for that island used to be the tracks on which the Red Car ran.  Quickly, there is a big difference between the Pacific Electric Red Car and LA's Metro Red Line.  Wikipedia explains that "The Red Line is a heavy rail subway line running between Downtown Los Angeles via the districts of Hollywood and Mid-Wilshire to North Hollywood within Los Angeles where it connects with the Metroliner Orange Line (bus rapid transit) service for stations to the Warner Center in Woodland Hills and Chatsworth."

So although the statue by Daniel Stern is interesting, I find it a bit of a stretch for a city to commission a statue honoring a decommissioned transportation system built by Henry Huntington.  Is Temple City trying to put a feather in its cap for its role in the Rosemead Beautification Project?  The two projects--Rosemead Blvd. Project and the Red Line are two dramatically different projects.  The Red Line actually improved transportation across LA County.  Rosemead Blvd. Project with its typical government-obsessed safety measures will make traffic worse.  In fact, nowhere is it stated that the project's intentions were to improve traffic, but only to increase safety measures.  It's the typical 9-11 refrain.  You'd think that civic-minded individuals would honor that tragedy in more quiet, reverent ways than in city after city ostentatiously exploiting it for shovel-ready projects that destroy the character of a city.

Are Stern's statues a small nod to Henry Huntington and an effort to put Temple City on the cultural map of Angelinos?  Hardly can two average-sized, bronze statues, tucked neatly away at inconspicuous bus stops declare to the world or the world of drivers-by that Temple City is an art capital of the San Gabriel Valley.  And maybe that is what it is.  Maybe the statues are just one in a long, unseen competition by local governments vying for funds within the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments to find new and innovative ways to generate business for revenue's sake.  The statues are not placed prominently on downtown or main-street islands.  The only downtown islands in Temple City are those on Las Tunas and Rosemead that radiate north, south, east, and west of that intersection.  So the Rosemead Blvd. Project is essentially an art project, a $17 million-dollar art project that made sure to put in concrete benches at bus stops.  Not specifically for bus riders, since the benches face away from the street, but for pedestrians who might get tired.  Let's see who uses these concrete benches.  My guess is that the homeless will use those benches.  I'm okay with that.  The concrete bench near Stern's bronze statue does not sit directly in front of the Starbuck's so that it might serve as a complement to Starbuck's patrons, but it is set between Starbuck's and Applebee's.  And the bench is turned toward the stores and not the street, declaring itself not so subtly to bus riders that, hey, this bench is not for you.  I mean the number of mixed messages in the design of this Rosemead Blvd. Project is astounding.  But all you have to do is get all of the city officials, police, and fire, fanfare, and fans, the local high school cheer and band and you've got yourself a christening event that helps to hide all of the questions and the cost overruns.  And what is left is a city preening its own feathers at the tax-payers' expense.  Thanks, Temple City. 

Locals know that Huntington Drive, Huntington Beach, Huntington Library, and the city of Huntington Park are all named after Henry E. Huntington.  Here is a map of the Red Car route in the LA area.  Here is a pretty good Huffington Post article on the Red Car's history.

 

The point for posting the above picture is to show what a rider might have held onto as he was trying to board the train while moving as is depicted in Daniel Stern's sculpture.

THE ARTIST: DANIEL STERN

Once online I found that Daniel Stern sculpted this bronze statue.  Yes, Daniel Stern.  That Daniel Stern!  After a quick review of his work on his Facebook page [DanielSternArt] and on YouTube, I have to say that I like his work.  I have always liked Daniel Stern, the actor.  Haven't liked all of his roles, but I've always liked his expressions and his genuinely funny and ironic delivery.  So it's easy to like the art because of him.  And that must be the point: hire an artist whose background only conjures warm, fuzzy feelings and then to put that stamp of approval on a city landmark. 

TEMPLE CITY

And without talking about cost, it is true that art does enhance the perception and aesthetic of a city.  Outdoor art does distinguish a city.  For outdoor art, the topography is the city's background.  Where did Temple City come from artistically speaking?  The last big effort was the gazebo placed right at the center of Golden West Park.  The gazebo is used for summer concerts and seasonal events.  It is a big draw for local citizens.  I've seen it.  I've had to drive on Las Tunas during performances.  But to the city's credit, the traffic on Las Tunas is actually pretty good.  So the planners there applied forethought to their projects.  Yay!!

ROSEMEAD BLVD. PROJECT: WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT!

I have read several articles on this project.  The way that most articles describe the project is as such:  beautification, improve road safety (for whom?), and the latest description is "auto-oriented pass-through thoroughfare, into an attractive place for community life."  What was wrong with the community before this project?  Wasn't there a community life in Temple City?  I happened to see it quite frequently at the Golden West Park.  Lots of people hanging out at the park.  To this day, lots of people at the County library.  Lots of people visiting shops, stores, coffee houses, tutoring spots along Las Tunas.  All of it is community life.  What new definition of community is the city offering?  Shopping?  So, what, lots of new retail stores will converge into the new shopping plaza at the northeast block where the old Rosemead Theater used to be, along with barbershop and florist?  Remember?  That was a great local theater.  Rosemead could use one of those again.  A theater provides a great community life.  And what I would like to know is why did the city take so long to realize that community life was so important to them?  I mean I remember in recent memory how the city was shoving down the throats of the residents a new Wal-Mart before the city stood tight against the city and the project was scrapped in Temple City and moved to Rush Street and Walnut Grove in South San Gabriel.  I attended an all-night city council session heard at Rosemead High School.  Cops were in attendance.  The city council was bought and paid for and they were lying.  I am glad that the Wal-Mart was built.  I just don't like the politics that ushered it in.    And I've experienced driving on the boulevard during its construction.  It was the worst managed project I'd ever been witness to.  The project was run over seven years.  That's right--seven years.  It began in 2007.

PHASE I

Phase one began in 2007.  It took four years to complete.  Phase I involved Rosemead Blvd. from Huntington Drive north to the 210 Freeway.  A reinforcing project was also underway on the 210 Freeway at the 210 East on-ramp at Rosemead just south of Foothill Blvd.  I believe that that was one of the shovel-ready projects.  Just learned that the stretch of Rosemead between Foothill and Colorado Blvd. will be closed for a project on the Gold Line.  Read it here. But Phase I was a nightmare for motorists.  Rosemead in both directions was reduced to a single lane.  And traffic more often than not came to a complete stop and crawl.  Motorists used San Gabriel Blvd. as an alternate route to the 210 Freeway, which means that they cut through San Gabriel, San Marino, and Pasadena.  Once you're north of California Blvd., you're in Pasadena territory.  Territory has such an old west sound to it, a kind of Judge Roy Bean sound to it.  But true to Murray Rothbard's "state is a gang writ large" description, this is exactly how cities operate.  Like a gang that has claimed a territory.  The territories just happen to have nice-sounding names, "Pasadena," San Marino," "San Gabriel" and so we think otherwise that a city is civil and civic-minded, if by civic-minded you mean revenue-generating.  And then there are those tax-payers who love to declare to the world--or anyone who will listen to them--that taxes are the sacred coffers from which city officials, the only qualified priests, can judiciously decide where that sacred money should be spent.  The Temple City priests obviously think that bike lanes and bronze statues at city bus stops--forget the fact that it took 7 years from start to finish to complete--is just the place to spend your . . . your money.  So as more motorists chose San Gabriel Blvd. to get to work, the city of Pasadena benefitted financially by assigning motorcycle cops to sit and wait, recessed on one of the small, quiet side streets from San Gabriel Blvd.  Motorcycle cops' sole job is to generate revenue through traffic citations.  That's it.  If you see one, slow down.  It's not good news.  Slow down immediately.  That is their sole assignment.  I have that on good authority.

PHASE II: ROSEMEAD BLVD. PROJECT: WORTH THE COST?  DID ANYONE COUNT THE COST?

I like Temple City.  Although its city council pushed citizens hard to install a Wal-Mart at the northeastern corner of Rosemead and Las Tunas, the city ultimately heeded the call of its citizens, homeowners, and small businesses, and the project was scrapped.  Scrapped from Temple City.  The project found a home at the corner of Rush Street and Walnut Grove in Montebello.  So there is that history with the city fighting its own residents.  The Rosemead Blvd. Project has not bode well for the city either, despite my appreciation for Stern's statues.  Work on the Rosemead Blvd. Project continues to this day.  It started years ago.  How many years?  Bureaucratic years.

It is my contention that the redundant lampposts both on the sidewalks as well as on the center island of the boulevard contain microphones for eavesdropping.

The project was done in at least two phases, perhaps three.  The first part of the Rosemead Blvd. Project began from Huntington Drive north to the 210 Freeway.  The year?  2007.  It took four years for the construction to be completed.  And what is there now?  Good question.  It is my contention that the redundant lampposts both on the sidewalks as well as on the center island of the boulevard contain microphones for eavesdropping.  I realize how paranoid that sounds.  is just such a project where it imposed its will on its residents.  There was nothing wrong with Rosemead Blvd.  Nothing.  In fact, it was better.  The highway, Highway 19, was wide open.  Now you've got extra concrete jutting up and jutting out into traffic that forces traffic to a crawl.  And what for?  There are no shops north of Las Tunas and the majority of shops south of Las Tunas are in the K-Mart strip mall.  And nothing except the train bridge between Broadway and Mission.

But my question is to the city of Temple City.

The civic pitch on the statue says that it's an attempt to honor or touch the past while holding on firmly to the future.  Cities are always rife with profoundly empty paradoxes.  Perhaps because those currently running the city don't know how long the ride, perhaps the political ride or the ride of insolvency will last.  With some in government being left behind, others firmly footed on the ride into the future, while still others left running to catch up.  How's that for an interpretation?  Oh, but it is a civic effort, Mr. Walgenbach.  How could you assign such insidious or duplicitous intentions to what is truly a wonderful civic endeavor? 

DID THE ROSEMEAD PROJECT IMPROVE TRAFFIC?  WAS IT INTENDED TO?

Apparently not.  In fact, improving traffic flow was not even a consideration.  The organizers and financiers claim that safety was improved, but how does one verify that?  One claim was that stretches of Rosemead Blvd. had no sidewalks and that mothers with strollers (I love how government planners like to use mothers with babies as the most vulnerable victims in our society) were forced to walk on dirt!  Oh, the humanity!  Can you imagine!  A mother walking on dirt!  Has that been done before in human history?  The claim is that mothers pushing their strollers through the dirt were somehow injured, apparently so many accidents that the city had to do something about it.  Is the $20 million-dollar art project their answer to the risks mothers faced as they pushed their strollers through the dirt?  I guess so.

I contend that the Rosemead Blvd. Project was intended to from the beginning to destroy the flow of traffic on Rosemead Blvd. from Huntington Drive south to the train bridge just north of Lower Azusa Road.  Traffic is so slow that it is not even worth taking to get to the 210 Foothill Freeway.  Perhaps the $17 million-dollar project improved functionality for bicyclists.  Yeah, bikers.  Not the Hells Angels, but cyclists.  You've seen them.  In packs.

Their pack is called a peloton, and they ride like that to draft and save energy.  But I thought that they ride to get exercise, and one must expend energy during exercise, correct?  Correct.  But these guys/gals ride long distances, so riding in a peloton saves energy over a long distance.   The cyclist lobby must be quite strong that they can command and mandate a city to construct bike lanes that serve a tiny minority of residents and only serve to eliminate street parking.  Sounds to me like another revenue-generating scheme for the city or cities involved in the Rosemead Boulevard Construction project.  Yet the city and news reporters highlight only virtues associated with the construction.  Complaints by motorists, businesses, residents is almost blacked out.  I hope it's not a case of the city losing prized space, like street parking, at the cost of gaining some nice-looking statutes, camelia-themed monuments, or concrete lanes for the occasional cyclist.  Rosemead Boulevard is not the Tour de France.  It's hard to tell what kind of an image Temple City is building for itself.  Just recently we were clued in that Bitcoin founder, Natashi Nakamoto, was spotted in Temple City.  Apparently, he lives there.  Why the uproar?  Why did the press converge on this quiet town?  To spotlight it.  This is not the town that your grandfather grew up in.  Not anymore it's not. 

Brenda Gazaar of The Pasadena Star-News explains that the only improved function on the boulevard is sidewalks and accessible ramps, pointing out that "sidewalks and accessible ramps [are] the biggest practical and aesthetic change proposed by the project."  Again, at what cost?  No one seems to count the cost of any of these projects.  Was there a budget, a limit on costs set by the city?  Did anyone in the city, say, "Okay, we're going to limit this project to $50 million?"  Why did they decide on $17 million?  I'd like to know.  

WHO'S FUNDING THE ROSEMEAD BLVD. PROJECT?  How many of the following agencies are federal agencies?  

Caltrans Bicycle Transportation Account

CalRecycle

City of Temple City

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Fund

Congressional Appropriations

Highway Safety Improvement Program

Measure R

Proposition 1B

Proposition A

Proposition C

Redevelopment Bonds

Surface Transportation Program – Local

Temple City Citywide Lighting and Maintenance District

Traffic Congestion Relief Fund

OKAY, SO WE KNOW WHO'S FUNDING IT.  BUT WHO'S PAYING FOR IT?

Homeowners ultimately, though that's never stated.  Gazaar explains that  "The project is being funded by 14 different sources so far. Only about $386,000 of the estimated $16.75 million needed for the project would be city funds-- and that amount was offered by CalTrans when it relinquished control of the highway to the city, she said."

Why would CalTrans relinquish control of the highway?  Does the city of Temple City have its own street maintenance crews?  And who are those 14 different sources?  Is the federal government any one of those sources?  Does the federal government fund any part of it through backdoor budgets, thereby exercising a percentage of control over the tiny old-fashioned Temple City?  

And those consumers in the city.  But it's more than that.  

with his left.  Of course with the left, who loves to do things always on other people's money.  Artist is Daniel Stern, the actor from Home Alone.

Here is a video where his statues get installed.  And here is Mr. Stern explaining the process of sculpting.  Here, Daniel Stern writes about the project.  Sounds like his studio is in Camarillo, Ca.  Interesting.

 

The blurb from the magazine article, linked here, reads:

"Mr. Temple City is taking a “leap of faith in order to be part of this forward-thinking community. You feel that he is taking a chance worth taking, and that he is definitely going to land safely on his feet,” says Stern. On the other hands, Ms. Temple City represents, “The core value of neighbor helping neighbor, of welcoming new immigrants from many cultures, and of always reaching out to lend a helping hand.” To tie it all together, Stern explains, “Temple City is a city on the move—always has been, always will be. So jump onboard and together we can ride this train boldly into the future.”

His inspiration? The Pacific Electric “Red Car,” Which ran down Las Tunas Drive from 1924 to 1941.

It has become a deplorable pattern of cities trying to rewrite its city's history by honoring a very selective, very politically-correct past.  I don't know how many cities are honoring Indians and Mexican ranchers.  We monuments to the Indians at the San Gabriel Mission.  We see the city of Duarte build and put a bronze statue across from the civic center of Andres de Duarte on horseback as though white people added nothing and no value to the culture and history of a community.  From where I come from they were the backbone of a neighborhood.  They were not politicians.  Politicians honor other politicos, leaving real people out of its history.   So Mr. lives with Ms. and have become the pillars of the city.  Okay.  Imagine that, Temple City in its efforts to honor the past with funny-looking statues summarizes its values in modern alternative lifestyles.  Okay.  But why don't they just say that?  They can't.  It's not politically correct.  It's marketing with political code.  It's an invitation to alternative lifestyles.  Come one, come all.  It is a symbolic Statue of Liberty with its' ". . . give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses."   The city has thankfully always been quiet and desired by those who prefer a quiet community as opposed to Los Angeles or Pasadena.  But now it is riding the wave following the recent appearance and exposure of Natashi Nakamoto of Bitcoin.

Small town America it is no longer.  My grandfather retired in Temple City.  Had other relatives and friends grow up in Temple City.    Gone is the Shrimp Boat.  Gone is the old miniature golf and arcade on Las Tunas.  Gone is El Gordo.  Gone is the Ivanhoe.  These were the establishments that lived and breathed not on the government teat, but on the hard-work, know-how, savings, and capital of business folks.  Where is their tribute?  On that, the city is quiet.

Garfield Park

You can see the date and time there of this shot taken at Garfield Park on Mission Drive in South Pasadena.  Had a lot of good memories here.  I was there tutoring a young boy from China, who came with his uncle.  The boy was smart and he really loved being in the United States.  I asked him why he liked the US so much and he said because it was so clean.  And that is true.  Compared to a lot of other countries, as well as compared the US's own past, the US is clean.  I don't know if it is cleaner than Vancouver, British Columbia.  That town, when I was there twice in 1984, was spectacularly clean.  Streets were remarkably clean. 

I miss the people I spent time here with.  They were great people when I knew them in their younger years.  I am sure they're great today.  It's just that my memory of them back then is so beautiful.

    St. Bernardine's Church, founded in 1862, is located at 531 N. F Street in San Bernadino.