Tag: essay

Langston Hughes and the End of It All

Langston Hughes – courtesy of the Department of African American Studies of Princeton University Harlem – Langston Hughes (1951) What happens to a dream deferred?       Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like…… Continue reading Langston Hughes and the End of It All

Hawaii Adventures

Geology:Hawaiian mythology’s heart is the story of Pele, the goddess of fire.  After she was chased from her home on Kauali by Namakaokaha’i, her sister and goddess of the sea, she fled to O’ahu and then to Maui’s Haleakala, and then finally to Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island, where she remains today.This similarity of…… Continue reading Hawaii Adventures

Mexican California: The Heyday of the Rachos

For a quarter century after the achievement of Mexican independence in 1821, California was a remote northern province of the nation of Mexico. Huge cattle ranches, or ranchos, emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. Traders and settlers from the United States began to arrive, harbingers of the great changes that would sweep California…… Continue reading Mexican California: The Heyday of the Rachos

My Mom’s Favorite Geologic Feature – Transgressive Regressive Cycles

My mom was also a geologist – I have a lot of memories as a kid of her pointing out different features in the land around us, though I didn’t appreciate it very much when we would stop somewhere on vacation to pick up rocks.  How times have changed!What are Transgressive Regressive Cycles?When a river…… Continue reading My Mom’s Favorite Geologic Feature – Transgressive Regressive Cycles

Tustin Street Name History

Columbus Tustin showed a lack of originality in 1870 when he named the streets dividing Tustin City’s 100 acres into 300-square-foot blocks. He used numbers for east and west streets with First on the north side of town and Sixth on the south. North and south streets received alphabetical names, A through H.Fourth Street became…… Continue reading Tustin Street Name History

Replicas of 1906 bell mark El Camino Real

Originally El Camino Real, also known as the Kings Highway, was a footpath worn by the Franciscan fathers as they traveled up and down California in 1769 between the 21 missions they built. Eventually the trail became wide enough to accommodate horses and wagons, but it was not considered a route until the last mission…… Continue reading Replicas of 1906 bell mark El Camino Real

The Man Behind Holt Avenue’s Name

Thousands of cars travel up and down Holt Avenue between 17th Street and Newport Avenue every day, according to traffic surveys done by the city.However, despite the huge number of drivers and passengers involved, probably not one person in a hundred gives a moment’s thought to the origin of the street’s name.John Holt, for whom…… Continue reading The Man Behind Holt Avenue’s Name

History of the Utt Juice Co.

The History of the Utt Juice CompanyThe Utt Juice Co. plant, which ran along the west side of Prospect between Main and Third streets, produced 7 million gallons of juice during the 50 years it was in operation.C. E. Utt, who developed the San Joaquin Fruit Co. along with Sherman Stevens and James Irvine, experimented…… Continue reading History of the Utt Juice Co.