Great Fishing Stories of Oregon

Mysteries of Topanga Canyon Heirloom Extravaganza By Laurel Marie Sobol
Mysteries of Topanga Canyon

Heirloom Extravaganza
By Laurel Marie Sobol
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This book belongs to:
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Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon

Heirloom Collection
Extravaganza
INTRODUCTION
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Topanga Canyon is filled with mysterious caves,
hidden parks difficult to get to, drastic mysteries
of what seems like sudden and horrible forest
fires and floods, as well as quaint little mysteries
of nature like old tortoises and skimmers and
other critters to be seen in their nooks and
crannies.
Canyon life is wild and wonderful all at the
same time. It is the life for the brave and
adventuresome not the meek and weak hearted.
Laurel spent almost seven years in the canyon
with her older brother John, Mama, and Dad
along with their many dogs and cats.

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Laurel shares many of the mysteries she
experienced while living in one of the most
beautiful places on earth. Come away to Topanga
Canyon and share the joy and mysteries of this
mystical place as Laurel shares Topanga!
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God who has given me everything exactly in the
order and events as He’s planned them to be
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Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon Heirloom

Extravaganza
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE~ TOPANGA CANYON
HIGHLIGHTS. 19
CHAPTER TWO~ HOME SWEET HOME 37
CHAPTER THREE~ THE FAMILY VACAT 63
CHAPTER FOUR~
TOPANGA STATE PARK 80
CHAPTER FIVE~ THE CAVES 101
CHAPTER SIX~ NATIVE SPIRITS 118
CHAPTER SEVEN~ THE EARTHQUAKE! 140
CHAPTER EIGHT~FANCY FEATHERS

AND A TRIP TO SAN FRANCISCO 161
CHAPTER NINE~ EVACIATE THE FIRE! 185
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CHAPTER TEN~ THE FLOODS 201
CHAPTER ELEVEN~ COUNTRY DAYS

AND BLISS 114
CHAPTER TWELVE~ COUNTRY HORSE RIDES

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN~ THE MYSTERY

CART 255
CHAPTER FOURTEEN~ LAUREL

AND UNCLE TOM ON THE
MOTORCYCL 276
CHAPTER FIFTEEN~ JOHN AND

LAUREL BEST FRIENDS 300
CHAPTER SIXTEEN~ CAMPING OUT 318
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN~ EBONY 340
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN~ MAMASITA 359
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Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon

Heirloom Collection
Extravaganza II
INTRODUCTION
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Topanga Canyon is filled with mysterious caves,
hidden parks difficult to get to, drastic mysteries
of what seems like sudden and horrible forest
fires and floods, as well as quaint little mysteries
of nature like old tortoises and skimmers and
other critters to be seen in their nooks and
crannies.
Canyon life is wild and wonderful all at the
same time. It is the life for the brave and
adventuresome not the meek and weak hearted.
Laurel spent almost seven years in the canyon
with her older brother John, Mama, and Dad
along with their many dogs and cats.

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Laurel shares many of the mysteries she
experienced while living in one of the most
beautiful places on earth. Come away to Topanga
Canyon and share the joy and mysteries of this
mystical place as Laurel shares Topanga!
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God who has given me everything exactly in the
order and events as He’s planned them to be
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Chapter One
Highlights
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Topanga Canyon sits nestled quietly in the
mountain range between the Pacific Ocean and
the San Fernando Valley in a most auspicious
area where one would least likely think they
would find numerous mysteries waiting for them
everywhere!
They even found a rare find of a rock maize
stone that they cherished for decades. This was
deeply appreciated by the family. Laurel would
not know how precious the find was until much
later, when she became adopted by James
Martin, the Great Great Grandson of Chief
Joseph.
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Topanga Canyon was home to Native Americans
for a long time before any other people came to
live there. They lived there and thrived for a long
time and their footprints and echoes are to be
found in subtle things and many mysteries in
Topanga Canyon.
Topanga as inconspicuous as it may appear to
new-comers, is captivating, thrilling, filled with
numerous mysteries, and interesting things
everywhere. From the high cliffs with sheer drops
of 100 plus feet, to the Santa Monica Mountain
Park high above, rising high above the canyon,
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Topanga’s glories reach beyond the fog and touch
the sun.
Topanga is broad, wide, deep and full of
surprises and adventures. Topanga will never
give up her mysteries completely and that is one
of her biggest secrets of all.
The frogs and tadpoles were lovely to hear
throughout the spring and into the autumn. They
seemed to put a musical pulse into the canyon life
where they lived.
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City life to country canyon life is a big change for
anybody. From cement sidewalks to dirt shoulder
roads, and nature everywhere the eye can see, is
quite a contrast. Even for a seven year old girl the
experience was extreme.
The dry and almost airless world of the city
streets and sidewalks compared to the fresh air of
the canyon was almost a shock. There was
adventure at every turn, and everywhere she
looked, and wherever she turned life was turning
out to be more spectacular than she had ever
imagined it would be.
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The heat was so bad that Ma used to lie down in
front of the air conditioner to keep cool
throughout the day, yet there was still no cooling
down. Ma knew she’d have to change things in
life herself if she wanted a change.
Laurel loved the canyon right away and knew it
would be a fun and adventuresome place to live
with her family.
Even no Pa says, “I thought the house had more
than one bedroom! I never looked!”
That’s what the house had, one big bedroom
upstairs, and it belonged to the kids because Ma
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and Pa gave it to them to have for their room to
share.
At night the canyon took on a new look and feel,
and the owls took over their domain with the
coyotes. The canyon was a wild and dark place
where the wild animals ruled.
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inspected her new home with the many big
Daddy Longlegs in the house and the big stink
bugs around the yard outside.
That first month they moved into Topanga
Canyon there was a Strawberry Festival at the
Community Center high on a hill in the middle of
Topanga. Long tables were spread out with
strawberries, whip cream, and cake. Topanga
Canyon was an immediate hit in Laurel’s book!
The strawberries never tasted better anywhere
else in the world than right here in Topanga on
this hill with the incredible view of an open valley
to the canyon itself. Laurel downed another

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strawberry with whip cream and cake, oh so
good, it was delicious.
Everyone loved their strawberries that day and
went home happy with big smiles and full
stomachs. The sun was warm and the coastal
breezes were picking up. Yes, life in Topanga
was going to be wonderful, just wonderful!
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When Laurel and John first got to Topanga,
Dad took them on nice leisurely hikes along the
creek bed, and they would hike up along various
streams that fed into the main stream leading
towards the sea. It felt like they were real
explorers seeing the landscape and canyon for the
first time. It was a glorious experience with the
sun beaming down upon their brows and the
wind gently brushing their cheeks. Life was very
beautiful and wonderful during these times and
outings with Dad. Nature abounded and
beautified the land high and low.
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Dad was careful to point out various dragonflies
and pretty birds and butterflies. He had an eye
for seeing things in nature that would soon lead
him to the art of photography.
This art of photography would in turn capture
the heart of Laurel, and she too would catch the
spirit of photography within her heart, and
become a professional photographer one day.
When she turned twelve there was only one
thing she wanted for her birthday and it was a
camera.
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On Laurel’s birthday she opened her gift and
there it was, a Kodak 110 camera, and it would
become the window to a whole new world for her.
It’s funny how little things like that can turn out
to be so hit in someone’s life as it was for Laurel.
Topanga turned out to be the first place Laurel
got stung by a bee, had her first case of poison
oak, and fell in love with nature too…what a
combination! Now Laurel could take up close
and personal pictures of her loved animals.
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Chapter Two
HOME SWEET HOME
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Laurel’s family just kind of melded into their
new lives in Topanga Canyon. They lived on a
street in Topanga Canyon that had previously
been called Sleepy Hollow, Pumpkin Hollow, and
now was called North Oakwood Drive.
The house was about 708 square feet and built
in 1928.
The family lived right next to, and beneath, a
high sandstone rock wall that rose up one
hundred feet high. A tiered concrete wall rose up
in the front of the house from the creek bed all
around the rest of the house except for the
driveway which merged into the little road in

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front of the house. This wall was built to be a
safety barrier against floods in the winter. It
would also be useful as a fire barrier in case a fire
rose up on the other side of the road too. The
cement barrier was a very good idea of the
builder who built the home.
Mom’s name was Vivian, Dad’s name was John,
just like Laurel’s year and a half older brother.
Their new house in Topanga was a two story
house intended to be a summer home. It had one
bedroom upstairs and a very nice enclosed porch
with French windows which everybody called the
“L” shaped room. This room wrapped around

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the upper story of the house, which happened to
be John and Laurel’s room and bathroom, not
the kitchen and dining room because it was just
flat with nothing built above it. Pa and Ma had
considered adding on a room there but the
expense always drove the thought away soon
after.
The enclosed veranda around the second story
had wooden floor panels painted grey. This room
was used for storing lots of things. It was also a
work room, a studio, and a sort of ‘everything’
room.
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The house was white with navy blue when they
moved in. Then Pa painted the trim bright lemon
yellow. He painted the giant mailbox the same
beautiful yellow. The stairway has a gentle curve
at the base and went straight up to the second
floor. Just to the left of the door in the bedroom
was a mini bathroom and window with a tiny
sink. There was a built in closet above the stairs
and a closet with a door in the bedroom. Then
another door led to the “L” shaped room from
the bedroom. The bedroom had two windows on
two of the walls that were not on side where the
stairs were.
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The “L” shaped room had windows too all
around it, and a door on the back of the house
side that led to nothing at all. It was permanently
locked so nobody could get in or out of that door
from the first time they saw it. The door was a
mystery. Why the door was there was a curiosity
in itself. Perhaps there had been a little bridge
leading to the upper bank next to the side of the
house.
There was room to build another room on the
house above the kitchen, but it had never been
done while Laurel lived there, though it would
have been a nice addition to the house and made

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it much nicer and bigger for them to all enjoy.
Ma and Pa would definitely have enjoyed having
their own room and privacy anyway.
Downstairs the living room had a wooden floor
and it was rather small, about 12”X12” or so,
maybe a little bigger. There was a gas furnace
that was almost never used that stood against the
back wall of the house along with the bookshelf
filled with about a hundred or more books that
belonged to Ma and Pa. The books Laurel liked
best were Life and National Geographic
magazines.
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The house was comfortable and like a cottage
right out of Spain. Laurel loved to sit in the
covered veranda upstairs and peer at the trees
that surrounded her home. She loved the birds
that sang through the day and all year round.
She discovered how much she loved nature as
nature slowly nourished her every day with love
and peace.
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She never tired of looking at these books and
things. They were always interesting to her.
The living room had a fireplace that almost
never worked the entire time they lived in
Topanga. It smoked every time they tried to light
a fire in the fireplace. The fireplace was in need
of maintenance which nobody knew how to do or
who to call, so they didn’t, and the fireplace stood
all those years non-functioning when it could
have been such a comforting part of the canyon
mountain home. It was a loss that must be
forgotten because nothing could be done about it
then. It worked poorly until it was time for them

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to leave the canyon, and then it worked, wow that
was interesting.
Ma and Pa were going their separate ways
slowly and painfully over the years…a
heartbreaking thing for John and Laurel to go
through. They knew things were not going well
for their Ma and Pa, but they always held hopes
that they would find a way to love each other and
could stay together as a family.
The living room had a Japanese style table Pa
made for Ma. It was made from the roughest
wood he could possibly have found. It was filled
with holes and splinters and there was not a

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smooth surface anywhere on it. This is where
John and Laurel did much of their homework
while sitting on huge stuffed pillows Ma made.
Ma found wild African animal designs to use as
fabric on the pillows and it was very colorful.
Laurel and John were like monkeys the way
they could scale the concrete tiered wall rising up
from the creek bed up to their yard. It was like
rock climbing and they had to be careful, but
they seldom fell, and it was fun playing on it as
long as they were careful. John and Laurel were
also like a couple of mountain goats too, for some
reason living up in the canyon brought out the

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wilderness within them and they learned to do
things they never imagined they could do when
they lived in the valley.
Zorba was their smaller dog who was a sheltie
that didn’t fit the criteria of quality breeding
stock but none of us cared how she looked.
Zorba was loved regardless because she was a
lovable and beautiful dog.
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Licorice was the family prima donna cat who
batted her eyes and walked nonchalantly through
the woods seemingly at complete peace with
herself and her environment. She proceeded to
languish about at wherever she was in typical cat
fashion relaxed and comfortable.
John and Laurel always had set chores to do all
the time. John had to take out the garbage and
change the linings, feed the animals, and clean
the litter boxes. Laurel had to wash the dishes by
hand, put them away, sweep and mop the kitchen
and dining room floors, and vacuum the stairs.
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John and Laurel had to keep their large
bedroom clean and tidy, and their beds made and
their toys kept neatly too.
Sometimes John helped with the vacuuming.
Laurel learned to bake in Topanga Canyon when
she was nine years old with the help of Mama.
She baked a breakfast cinnamon cake with white
frosting when she was twelve years old after she
had made one successfully in cooking class at
Parkman Junior High School.
It was pretty good she thought. Before long
Laurel was baking a lot, and then she was taking
classes in junior high school too, and at the end of

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it all there was a lovely Mother and Daughter Tea
Party that she invited Mama to attend.
On that lovely late spring day, the outside
seating was all arranged in the most beautiful
way, and the tea party was perfect, everything
went as planned. All the cakes and tea were
perfect. Mama and Laurel beamed at one
another and the love they shared seemed to light
the entire setting and match the glow of the late
afternoon sun. It was a day they would always
cherish.
There were always lots of animals at home for
John and Laurel to care for and look after over

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the years as puppies and kittens came into their
lives. Laurel had thought she might want to
become a veterinarian because she loved animals
so much. Lassie had so many batches of puppies
that Laurel gave up trying to count them all.
The greatest time raising the kittens was when
they were little and John and Laurel would be in
their beds for the night. Each of them would try
to get the attention of the kittens to their side of
the room by patting the wooden floor with their
hands and drumming it with their fingers. Then
they would tease the kittens by moving their
hands swiftly back and forth across the floor

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from side to side as though there was a string
attached, and sometimes they had a sock or
something of interest to get the kittens to come
over to them. These times were so fun, John and
Laurel would laugh and laugh, the kittens would
run from one end of the room to the other as fast
as they could. In their haste they would come to
a lurching stop and swing around in a circle to
stop themselves, before batting out with the soft
padding of their tiny little paws at John and
Laurel’s fingers, hands and arms. John and
Laurel took turns saying, “Owe, Oh, Ohhh!”
Those little kittens always did get the best of John

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and Laurel in the end. Every kitten scratch was
well worth it on their hands and arms from their
beloved kittens. Laurel spent countless hours
loving the puppies, kittens, their bigger brothers
and sisters, and mothers too.
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She would help wean the pups and kittens from
their mothers when it was time to do so. Licorice
and Lassie were the only mamas in Topanga
Canyon at their house. Each mama knew when it
was time to stop nursing their young. The
nursing sessions would shorten until they were
not happening at all. Then the puppies especially
were mournful about their loss of nursing. At
this point John and Laurel would prepare instant
dry milk mix with warm water and give it to the
babies and help them learn to drink their milk
properly. Before long the kittens and pups would
know what to do, in order to get the milk into

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their mouths, and into their tummies. Then it
was a free for all and they couldn’t get enough
milk because they were growing so fast. The
puppies were so cute to play with. They were
adorable, warm and fuzzy, and they smelled
perfectly lovely the way only puppies can smell
when they are a puppy. Nothing else in the world
smells like a puppy except a puppy, and nothing
ever will, because it is just meant to be that way.
Laurel would take her doll buggy and put several
puppies inside it to give them a ride down the
road where she lived. The puppies were so small
that they didn’t jump out of the buggy, and they

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were well behaved because they were so young,
this made the trip fun and enjoyable. These
buggy rides didn’t last very long because the
puppies got big fast and would get frisky, before
long they would peek over the edge of the buggy,
and want to jump out. Then it was time for them
to stop going on buggy rides with Laurel. Those
were very special days for Laurel and the puppies
in Topanga. Laurel loved each puppy and kitten
as the treasure they were.
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CHAPTER THREE
THE FAMILY VACATION
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Pa drove Ma, John, and Laurel to their family
vacation in the Yosemite National Park the first
year they had moved to Topanga Canyon. Pa’s
younger twin brothers Uncle Tom and Uncle Ed
had come in their own car on vacation with them.
Ma and Laurel were going to camp out in the
VW bus in the Tuolumne Meadows campground
as the boys went backpacking from White Wolf
trail back to the campground where Ma and
Laurel were camping out. This was a big
adventure for Laurel even though she missed her
Pa and brother John.
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Mama and Laurel camped out in the 1969 VW
bus beneath a stand of tall pine trees beside a
crystal clear and icy cold stream. They had a
rustic campsite. Mama and Laurel had said
goodbye to the rest of the family when they left
for their full backpacking trip.
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Then Ma took Laurel to the old little general
store nearby. Ma bought several items for
Laurel to make the camping more fun.
After looking around the store Ma choose some
books about bears and rabbits for Laurel to read,
a deck of cards for them to play later on that day,
and some other things.
Then they walked back to their campsite holding
hands all the way back and admired the sun
filtering through the tall pines in the late
afternoon sun.
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The air was cool and crisp with the feel of
autumn that comes with places in higher
elevations, when it is actually summer
everywhere else. The tall ancient pines
whispered their sweet serenade throughout the
day, and their ever green foliage was radiant
green in the high country air.
At dusk it was time to go to sleep in the fold out
bed at the rear of the bus. Mama got the bed
ready for them. Before it was time to sleep she
read one of the comforting stories she bought at
the store.
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Then she tucked us in her double zippered
sleeping bag designed with big brown bears on
the inside fabric of soft cotton.
All seemed right with the world as Laurel
drifted off into a sweet slumber.
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Suddenly Laurel was awakened in the middle of
the night by the VW bus shaking and bouncing.
Laurel could tell something very large was on top
of the bus. Laurel reached over to Mama and
knew she was awake too. She said, “Shhh, maybe
it will go away!” Laurel froze in her spot and
didn’t say a word, then she began to sink lower
into the sleeping bag trying to hide! The noise on
the roof continued for about five minutes or
longer.
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Laurel hoped whatever it was would go away
soon. Finally the thing on the VW bus climbed
off and wandered away.
For the rest of the night Laurel wondered if the
thing would return to bother them again and the
rest of the night was a very long one. As soon as
morning came Mama and Laurel went to venture
out of the bus to see if they could tell what had
happened during the wee hours of the night and
morning.
Then they saw giant bear paw prints scaling up
the front windshield of the bus to the roof! They
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were surprised such a great big bear had climbed
up there and that the roof had not caved in under
it’s weight.
Mama and Laurel were pretty scared of bears
for the rest of their camping trip and found
themselves on the lookout for bears everywhere
they turned!
They fervently hoped that the bear or bears
would not come back to bother them again! They
must have had some goodies in the VW bus that
the bears thought smelled good and wanted to
eat. The bears were right, Ma and Laurel did
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have some nice delicious things to eat in the VW
Bus. They would have to put the food in a better
container next time they came to the campground
to camp out.
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Somehow things did not seem so scary in the day
with the light from the sun shining down and
filtering through the tall pine trees and reflecting
off the stream nearby.
Laurel could not wait to tell Papa and John
about it when they returned to their campsite
from their four day backpacking trip!
Laurel said, “We saved the prints on the
window to show you how big the bears were that
climbed up on top of the bus!”
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Dad and John looked at the enormous bear
prints that had muddied up the front windows of
the VW bus.
Papa and John were truly amazed and were
very glad that no harm had come to Ma and
Laurel. After a while it was time to pack things
up and head home to Topanga Canyon!
The bus slowly went down to Yosemite Valley
and they adored the beautiful Merced River
before heading home…
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CHAPTER FOUR
TOPANGA STATE PARK
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Laurel loved the sky, the trees, and the canyon
air. She loved the streams when they ran strong,
and the dry stream beds when they were perfect
dry trails to hike on with damp or old moss on
top of the crusty creek bottom. She knew that the
river always ran beneath the stream even when it
looked dry on top, steadily moving towards the
sea, always on the go where nobody could see it
moving.
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Dad didn’t take John and Laurel up to the
Topanga Mountain Park very often, and when he
did, it was usually in the mild spring when the
weather was pleasant and just right for hiking.
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It seemed like the trail branched off of Cheney
Avenue or somewhere near there and up, up, up
it went from there. Even though it was the same
trail, Laurel felt like it was always different every
time they went on it because of the time of day,
the throw of the shadows as they swept across the
landscape, and the different animal signs they
noted along the trail each time. Though at times
there was no hint of an animal either wild or
tame on the trail.
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It came to Laurel’s attention many years later,
that Pa had intentionally took them hiking to get
them conditioned to taking long trails in
Touloume Meadows where they went
backpacking almost every year.
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It just felt good to be out in the fresh air, smell
the old oak trees and grasses swaying in the
breezes. The air up in the park was clean and
fresh, pure and pristine, and there was not a
bunch of noise pollution going on around them at
the time. It was quiet and serene on the ridge of
the Topanga Mountains, and it felt peaceful, calm
and gentle up there.
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Altogether it was invigorating and revitalizing
and Laurel always came down out of the park
feeling renewed and refreshed in her heart and
soul.
One time Dad thought it would be a good idea to
take his sister’s two girls up there with us. So
dad took Moira and Marina up to the park with
us on one of the hikes. Both of the cousins were a
little younger than Laurel and she was glad to
have them as company with her Dad and John on
the trail. Both cousins liked the trail a lot and
would remember it long afterwards.
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The trail started out and meandered around
some old barns and houses with fields near them.
Then those disappeared as the trail rose into the
mountains and left them behind. Then old oaks
and shrubs prevailed the scenery with tall brown
and green grasses mingled together. A perfect
place for rabbits, coyotes, and squirrels to live.
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Laurel tried to always be mindful of the little
oak plants that could be poison oak or ivy which
she didn’t want to have any contact with. These
plants were very oily and caused very bad rashes
on the skin that didn’t go away very soon.
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To Laurel the poison oak was awful and
although it was pretty when it was red and
yellowish orange, it was also in its most oily form,
and the worst time a person could come in
contact with it if they were allergic to it.
Dad often pointed to beautiful things in the
woods and grasslands for Laurel and John to see.
John almost always got to see them. Dad would
say, “Look up over there kids, wow, did you see
that wonderful bird?”
John would almost always reply, “Yes Dad, it
was nice, I saw it!”
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Laurel looked and looked in the direction Dad
had pointed to but almost always missed the
animals he had been trying to show them. Laurel
always tried to find the animals but rarely was
successful! She was determined to be more
vigilant about finding and seeing the wild animals
in the woodlands and not miss them.
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CHAPTER FIVE
THE CAVES
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The canyon held caves of many kinds, treasure
places where forests of ancient old oaks played
their songs into the winds and rustled their leaves
into the breeze singing softly of life, and living,
and other beautiful mysterious things.
Coming into the canyon to live is a new
adventure for Laurel and her family. The many
mysteries of the dry and arid country abound
everywhere and in every place. The ancient old
oaks rustling in the breeze hold their secrets and
murmur to one another about things from long
ago. The many caves found throughout the
canyon hold different mysteries and secrets of

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their own. Dark, deep caves, with sandy bottoms
and dry dust everywhere within, with dank odors
permeated about the stagnant areas.
It was easily the home to many people for a long
time over the centuries, because it was a natural
place for protection from the harsh elements of
the canyon and wild animals.
Mama met a lady named Judith when we first
moved to Topanga. She was fun and
adventuresome and wanted to take Ma and
Laurel to see some of the beautiful caves that
were hidden away in Topanga. We all met her by
her jeep. She was already there waiting for us

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standing in front of her open topped jeep. Mama
got in the front seat and Laurel got in the back
seat. Judith was chipper and excited about
taking a trip out to the caves that day. She was
young and tan, about thirty years old, with nice
long brown hair in a bun on her head, with long
loose strands hanging off to the sides. Laurel
couldn’t recall being in a jeep before, she liked
the experience of jolting along the long and
narrow old dusty road, bouncing happily in her
seat taking in the fresh morning air and scenery.
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Judith was one of many people Laurel met when
she got to Topanga. She was keen, her eyes saw
well beyond the line of her vision, she looked deep
within. She was like part of the canyon and
sturdy like the thick canyon walls. She seemed
tough too, but gentle at the same time, managing
both with the perfect balance.
Her clothes were natural hues, and fabrics,
there didn’t seem to be anything but natural
elements surrounding Judith. Laurel thought
Judith was like a lovely canyon flower.
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Judith drove them out to the caves for what
seemed like a very long time. It was an exciting
time in Laurel’s life, one filled with adventure
and excitement, and it was amazing to be living
the moment and being able to enjoy it to the
fullest just as she was doing now.
The old jeep was expertly maneuvered around
the dusty curves and dirt roads until they were
almost there.
The sun climbed higher into the sky as it does in
the heat of high summer in southern California.
The caves brightened and darkened all at once.
Sandstone entrances glanced off the sun rays, and

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the caves looked deeper and darker than ever.
Upon arriving at the caves, they got out of the
jeep and walked up to the caves. The caves were
fairly big with large front openings and
somewhat deep hollows within.
The caves didn’t seem to go very far, and Laurel
didn’t want to see if they did, because she didn’t
want to explore the caves any more than she
already had. Nobody had brought any lanterns or
bright flash lights to light the way very well in the
caves.
The summer day was young, but it was still hot
even though it was still not noon, shadows were

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still crisp and clean against the backdrop of the
wild canyon scenery.
The late morning light and shadows gave the
caves an extra shroud of mystery and intrigue
which piqued Laurel’s curiosity.
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The caves were interesting in that they looked
like they may have been partially formed by
human help along with natural elements,
although they may have been made entirely by
nature.
It was just that the caves seemed so perfectly
rounded at the entrance as though they had been
manicured in some way or fashion.
The trio clambered out of the jeep and
meandered toward the cave entrance to look
around and get a closer look inside. The ground
was sandy in places and firmer ground in other
areas. The cave was about ten feet high or so and

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about twice as wide at the entrance and well into
the depths of the cave. The path into the cave
was slightly curved and they couldn’t see beyond
the curves of the sandstone walls.
They didn’t have cave lights or safety hats to
wear into the caves, so they didn’t venture far,
mainly they enjoyed being there and peering into
the depths from outside the cave.
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An interesting thing about the caves is that
Laurel had never returned to those caves ever
again after that first visit. She could not tell
anybody where those caves were either if she
were asked where they were located. She had no
idea where they could be. The caves were
shrouded in mystery. Years later Laurel learned
that there was a real mystery about some other
caves in Topanga that went back to the time of
the gold miners. Laurel’s fifth grade teacher,
Mrs. Farley, told her class about some miners
who had discovered one on the caves along a
canyon wall. The miners came into some most

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unusual experiences in their journey through the
cave. The cave was filled with ghosts and other
strange things that scared the miners, and after
leaving the cave, those that did, it changed their
lives it is said. Ms. Farley told the story in a very
convincing way, and Laurel as a child, thought
the way her teacher told the story there certainly
could be some credibility to the story.
The fact was it would always be a real mystery.
Surely these caves would make good houses from
the elements outside to people and animals living
in the elements like the Native American people
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who lived and populated the area for so many
thousands and thousands of years.
Judith inquired, “Are you ready to head back
home?”
Ma and Laurel both said, “Yes we are. Thank
you for taking us out here and sharing this
beautiful site with us.”
Mama and Laurel hopped into the old jeep and
Judith began the trek towards home.
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CHAPTER SIX
NATIVE SPIRITS
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Licorice was a medium sized cat who could
make almost any place she was a comfortable
one. She loved to be petted and adored by her
family. Licorice lived beside an old and ancient
oak grove of trees about a hundred feet from our
home. These trees made a comfortable shade in
summer and a scary dark canopy in the dark of
night, even on a moonlit one, and it has been said
that the native people who lived there many years
ago, still lingered there yet in spirit forms because
this was still their ancestral home. A flash of light
here, another flash of light there, was that a spirit
of one long gone? Mother called the dots and

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sprays of light Indian Spirits, and said, “They
needed to be acknowledged and respected or they
would feel bad and get perhaps resentful if they
were not noticed and appreciated.”
Laurel and John listened to their mother speak
about the Indian Spirits. Licorice just walked
among the ancient oaks and sniffed at the Indian
Spirits as though they were not even there. Her
bright green eyes flickered this way and that
seeming to illuminate the area around her.
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There was no question that the entire length of
the road beneath the ancient oak trees was filled
with a presence of mystery. Ancient spirits
seemed to watch intensely any who wandered
near the area. The black depth of the inner circle
of the oaks was almost murky with souls hovering
near and far. Not one person liked to linger there
for long alone or with others. Everyone walked
by quickly or ran.
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Only when they cleared the area and could see
the sky and moon and stars did they feel at ease.
It could well have been a natural or un-natural
vortex too, considering all the electricity plasma
in the area.
Laurel was not in the least bit afraid of the
ghosts that tended to linger among the ancient
oak trees spread thickly about the canyon where
she lived.
The family pets helped offset any fear that may
have found it’s way into the family’s heart. All
their pets were like family to them, especially
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Laurel, John and Ma. Licorice was the first cat
Laurel’s family had in Topanga Canyon. She
found her new canyon home and family to her
liking. She loved the quaint summer creek with
the little tadpoles and frogs to play with. In the
winter she loved to look out of the kitchen
window upon the raging river swollen from the
canyon rains, no longer a trickling stream, but a
river that had carried many houses, cars and
other things down its windy path to the sea.
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Licorice had so many batches of kittens that
John and Laurel couldn’t keep count of them all.
But all of the kittens were loved and adored by
them and Licorice. Licorice was the best mother
cat in California. She loved each and every one
of them that came into the world.
Some of the kittens Laurel remembers more
than others. Charcola was her favorite one of all
who was black with white on her face and chest.
A bad name to call this kitty as time would tell.
One night Charcola was determined to go outside
no matter what, and she meant business about it,
so much so that she finally got her way. The

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strange sounds outside that night were calling her
in a strange way, intending to do just that, and
she should have been prevented from ever leaving
the house under any circumstances regardless of
how much or how badly she cried to go out.
There was nothing but sadness for Charcola and
her family regarding her after that strange and
bizarre night of weird noises and strange events.
The noises sounded like coyotes trying to mimic
cats or other sounds mingled together. It was
altogether scary.
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Such a night did not happen again and hopefully
never will. Charcola disappeared that night and
never was seen again.
Laurel and John searched the area high and low
near their home but she never came home. The
called and called her and brought out a can of
tuna to entice her back home. The can of tuna
was a never fail tool useful in bringing back cats
that got too far away from home. The tuna scent
drove them home very quickly. The next day
John and Laurel scoured the area and called and
called, “Charcola, Charcola, Charcola!”
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Charcola never came home and Laurel cried
and cried over losing her little kitten cat.
Charcola had grown into a teenager by now, no
longer a kitten, but Laurel still viewed her as a
kitten in lots of ways because she was still small
and little for her age.
The owls and coyotes were most loud that night
and it scared John and Laurel. They cried a long
time for their little Charcola, and wished with all
their hearts she had not wandered away from
their home that day.
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Then there were twin grey tiger stripe kittens
born that were named Whiskers and Whiskey.
They were like identical twins and they were a
loving handful of fun and surprises. John and
Laurel loved these two cats very much and were
happy they could keep them as they grew up into
adults. Mother and Dad didn’t spay or neuter
the animals we had and that posed a few
problems.
Licorice had too many kittens for one cat to
have and it likely shortened her life by a few
years. Also, Ma and Pa didn’t regularly get the
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it was costly for them to do it. Whiskey and
Whiskers were frisky and feisty and perked up
the lives of John, Laurel and the whole family.
But one day the two teenage cats were not feeling
so perky and then they got worse. Before long
they were very sick and Ma took them to the
veterinarian in Malibu. The vet tried to get them
better but it was too late to do any good for them
and their condition worsened quickly.
One day a week or so later John and Laurel
came home from school to find that Whiskey and
Whiskers had gone away to heaven and their
youthful hearts broke and they cried for a long

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time over the loss of their beloved twin tiger
striped teenage cats whom they adored so much.
They thought how sad life could be and how sad
it was now for them with Whiskey and Whiskers
gone forever. They missed their cats more than
ever. They mourned for their Whiskey and
Whiskers and knew that Licorice was very sad
too. She knew that something was wrong and
that she had lost something very precious too.
Those were sad days in Topanga Canyon as
November came along and the cold days of
autumn set in.
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Autumn was under way and the old oaks were
in full adornment and glory filled with golden
oak leaves as they changed from green to golden
yellow and oranges. The nights were getting
cooler and the shadows of night came sooner
since summer was over. The old oaks seemed to
whisper to one another in the delicate evening
breezes that came whistling up the canyon from
the Santa Monica coastline where the Pacific
Ocean is.
October was a special time of year because mom
loved to make hot chili with pineapple and
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leave out some of her delicious cooking in a small
bowl out beneath the old oak trees where happy
wild, and sometimes not so wild, animals could
eat to their hearts content. Mom loved to share
with nature.
Licorice loved to slink around among the old
oaks to find the bowl of still warm chili and other
delectable foods mom had purposefully left
outside. Life could be hard on a cat, especially if
you were black like her. This color of fur would
be a life saver in the dry dusty canyon where the
dark nights drove out the owl population in large
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she blended in with the shadows and darkness
where the owls outnumbered her by vast
amounts.
No doubt that Licorice helped John, Laurel, and
Ma to be calmer and more content with life with
whatever came their way.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
EARTHQUAKE!
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John and Laurel were sound asleep upstairs in
their bedroom dreaming sweet dreams on
February 9, 1971. At 6:55 a.m. PST they were
suddenly wide awake when their room and house
began to shake in the canyon. The sudden
motion and noise was violent and awesome all at
once. John and Laurel didn’t have time to say a
word, they knew to get out of their room at once,
as soon as it was possible.
The noise was loud and the floor moved and
swayed around about them. John and Laurel
didn’t know what was happening,
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They got out of bed quickly and ran down the
stairs trying to find shoes on the way. Rocks
from the sandstone wall behind their house were
falling behind the house and it was frightening to
hear them fall. John and Laurel knew they must
get downstairs to their Ma and Pa who were
downstairs.
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The rocks came down harder and harder
hitting the north wall with regularity that was
fearsome. It was a horrific experience to be in.
The only thought that went through Laurel’s
mind was to get out of the house, yet it seemed to
be forever to do exactly that, and for some reason
she was the last one to run down the stairs.
Ma and Pa were getting out of bed and leaving
the house in a hurry too. Pa and Ma had frantic
voices, along with John and Laurel, confusion
was everywhere, there was an emergency at hand
and nobody was prepared or trained for an exit
in an emergency like an earthquake.

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Everyone scrambled out of the house practically
running over one another to leave the house for
the outdoors. Laurel was brushed and pushed as
family members rushed past her outside ahead of
her. Laurel was the last one out the door as
though she had been moving slow but she hadn’t,
they had just moved faster than her, and moved
swifter. It was a mad scramble for the front door
to get outside that dark, cold and foggy morning.
Everyone met outside by the VW bus and got
inside it quickly.
Pa drove everyone west to Topanga Center
where there was a grocery store, U.S. Post Office

146
and several small stores, restaurants and cafes.
The entire Shanahan family was in shock from
the earthquake and barely said a word after
going through the earthquake together. Laurel
felt happy to be alive, she felt sick inside about
having gone through the awful experience
because it had been so scary for her, and deep
inside she felt bad about being the last one out the
door as everyone lurched past her…That would
be something she’d have to get over later on in
life and adjust to, which she did, after a while.
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Pa took them to a café that had already opened
for the day and he treated them to hot coco with
whip cream.
They sat together at a small dark wooden table
with four wooden chairs and they huddled
together waiting for their coco to arrive.
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Everybody looked at everybody else around the
table taking stock of how they were doing. Pa
tried to grin at them all, but it was weak, and it
was hard for Laurel to try to smile back at him.
She felt sick to her stomach from the earthquake
experience she’d just been through with them.
The café was almost empty of people with dim
low lit lights here and there. At their small table
it was warm and bright because they were alive
and together with love in their hearts for one
another.
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They all had pallid faces and a look of shock too,
and Laurel was trembling all over inside from the
shock and it wasn’t going away. She tried to
breath slow but it wasn’t easy to do.
The hot coco with whip cream had a very
sedative quality to it at the time. It was the
perfect beverage to drink in the café with
everyone there safely together without so much as
a scratch on any of them from the earthquake.
They were all very fortunate and very lucky as
well.
Pa looked handsome even this early in the
morning. He wore a relaxed style of cotton long

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sleeve shirts with nice patterns of swirls of colors
against a soft gray background. Ma wore even
brighter garments that she made herself from
patterns she designed that were classic and chic
in any time period. Her most popular style of
garment was African of origin, with long sleeves
with triangular tips that nearly touched the
ground. These sleeves were open pockets that Ma
could put her change in when she went shopping.
They were very convenient for her and she
looked adorable in them. Ma was a beauty. She
was so beautiful that people often stopped her to
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that beautiful. Something about Ma and her
beauty was rare and not to be found in others.
She was more than a ‘cut above the rest’ because
she was a true beauty through and through.
Pa, Ma, John, and Laurel stayed in the café and
had more cocoa because they didn’t want to leave
the restaurant for a while yet. The earthquake
had been quite terrifying to them all. Nobody
wanted to go home too soon. Nobody wanted the
earthquake to happen again. Finally Pa said that
we must leave and return home. By that time the
sun had started to come up and it didn’t seem as
scary outside, and the earthquake seemed more

153
like a distant nightmare than a very recent event,
so Pa gathered them into the VW bus and drove
them back home.
Nothing in the house looked much different to
Laurel when she looked inside.
Their home had been spared by God…They felt
very grateful to God and thankful for their lives.
As the sun rose in the sky Laurel and John went
outside to look behind the house to see how big
the rocks and boulders were that had come down
from the mountain during the earthquake.
They had heard what sounded to them like big
rocks come down that morning, along with some

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smaller ones, and they were curious to look
behind the house. They peeked around the
easiest corner of the house to look, which was
from the kitchenette corner of the house, and
here they stood together side by side.
They both took turns and looked, looked some
more, and continued to peer at what they saw.
There behind the house were some very good
sized rocks that had fallen down from the
sandstone wall. It was very fortunate that none
of the rocks and little boulders had made a hole
in the house because several of them had sure
come within a hair of doing so on that morning.

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John and Laurel stepped back away from the
corner of the house and their eyes said a lot, their
eyes were large with wonder and curiosity, they
could hardly believe that such a large number of
rocks had fallen and not hit the house without
coming into it. They knew it was not a fluke.
They had been very lucky.
They found out later that the earthquake was
called the San Fernando earthquake and it had
struck the San Fernando Valley near Sylmar,
California with a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter
scale.
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There would not be another earthquake like this
one for them to have to experience in Topanga
Canyon. Maybe part of the reason was because
Ma prayed to God year round for them to all be
safe and happy and healthy, and for their home
to be protected from any danger that may strike
from anywhere. Ma was a good person, her heart
came from a good place, and she knew how to be
a good vessel for the Lord God.
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Laurel was glad that Dad was there with Mama
and John too, it made a big difference for her,
and the experience wasn’t so scary because they
were together as a family. It was a big comfort to
Laurel that they were all together even though
they had been through such a terrible and scary
event.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
FANCY FEATHERS
AND A TRIP TO
SAN FRANCISCO
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Laurel and John were Mama’s big helpers when
it came time to making extra money for the
family. Mama was an artist and musician as well
as multi-talented in many other areas too. Her
younger brother says that whatever she put her
mind to she did well at.
Mama decided to make feather hairpieces and
jewelry to sell at the Renaissance Faire just north
of Topanga Canyon, she asked for help from
John and Laurel.
John and Laurel helped make hundreds and
hundreds of feather pieces.
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They worked for hours and hours on end with
very little breaks in between. Ma used quality
products in her feather masterpieces, copper wire
and real feathers from the best feather company
in California called Fancy Feathers.
Fancy Feathers was located downtown in Los
Angeles and both John and Laurel loved to go
there with Mama when she needed to resupply
her feathers. She usually took one of them or the
other because it worked out best that way for
them. John and Laurel got to spend the day with
Ma when they went downtown with her that day.
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They arrived at the old building, in the 1970’s at
their location then, and met the person who
operated the manual elevator. The metal
screened in box moved from floor to floor and
stopped at the proper level. Fancy Feathers was
a huge room filled with boxes and bags of
feathers galore. Feathers of every type, kind,
color, and style were available at Fancy Feathers.
The helpers there were always friendly and
helpful to Ma and the smell of mothballs was
everywhere to help protect the feathers from
damage of pests.
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This place was where Marilyn Monroe got her
boas and other feathers that she wore in several
of her movies. It is where many famous people
got their feathers for their movie outfits and
personal appearances as well.
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Ma, John and Laurel worked with pheasant
feathers, peacock and ostrich feathers, and other
exotic feathers to be had at Fancy Feathers store.
Laurel and John tied the bouquets of feathers
together with strong shiny copper wire. The
copper wire had to be tied just right around the
feather shafts or they would bend and break, and
the feathers would be damaged, so the process
was actually quite delicate and strong at the same
time.
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There worked with feathers that resembled the
West African Crown bird feathers too. It was
fun to be creative and know that they would be
selling each and every one, except the ones Ma
kept for herself or gave to Laurel.
Laurel worked so much and so hard that the
wire actually made dents in her hands from the
wire, and the wire cut into her skin a lot of times
after long hours of working on the feathers, but it
was very important work to help her Ma so she
did it.
John worked about as hard as Laurel, or almost
as hard, and they each received a penny for every

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feather bouquet they tied with copper after they
carefully arranged them in a beautiful
arrangement for sale.
Mama had other perks for John and Laurel too
when they helped her with the feathers. After
helping her set up the feather booth at the faire,
and help sell the feathers all day long throughout
the faire days, she would give them money to buy
their meals and special snacks when they wanted
them after she’d made enough sales that day.
John and Laurel traveled together at the faire
like a part of the festival itself, so adorable were
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attire of the 1300’s garments. Ma also gave them
spending money to buy things they saw and
wanted at the vendors like adorable miniature
pouches with tiny fringe, puppets, and many
other things.
John and Laurel both loved the deep fried
goods, the buns with roast beef and clear beef
gravy on them. They traveled from play to play
and musical to musical and watched as Queen
Elizabeth made her grand entry up and down the
main isle of the faire.
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Laurel loved the giant stilted men and women
walking in the faire, they were huge and very
intimidating, as well as mesmerizing.
It was here that Laurel discovered the
wonderful and beautiful taste of pumpkin bread.
Pumpkin bread from here forth would be one of
her favorite breads and cakes because of it’s
nutrition, unique flavoring, and amazing texture
as well as the indefinable things in it like hidden
raisins to be found in it at times…
At the end of the faire every day John and
Laurel helped Ma close the sales area, and pack
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a mile almost to get there. It was not an easy job
at the end of a busy and long day and everybody
was usually very tired and often cranky. Ma
lifted their moods by always suggesting that they
stop at a liquor store on the way home that had a
fantastic supply of candy for John and Laurel to
buy treats for themselves to eat on the way home
up the canyon roads leading to home.
While the money was not much for over three
years working at other festivals too, Ma earned
enough money to go to Jamaica for four years in
a row. Ma even offered to take Laurel with her
175
there once but Laurel didn’t want to go there at
the time because it was too far away for her.
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The feather jewelry was a huge success with the
young and old alike. All the ladies adored the
feather earrings, necklaces, and hair pieces that
Ma and John and Laurel handmade. Ma had
them priced fairly, and they were beautifully
handcrafted with love. There was not a better
item sold at the Renaissance Faire.
One day Ma surprised John and Laurel very
much.
Ma had an idea to pay John and Laurel for all
the years they had helped her with making and
selling feathers at the festivals. She said, “Let’s
take a train ride to San Francisco! We’ll take the

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train from Grand Central Station in Los Angeles
and we’ll have a wonderful time!”
John and Laurel looked at Ma and then at each
other. They liked Ma’s idea a lot. The more they
thought about it the more they liked it. Then
they couldn’t wait to go on the train with Ma to
San Francisco!
The day came when it was time for them to
depart on the train for San Francisco! Pa drove
them all to the train station and dropped them off
and said, “Goodbye, have a nice time, I love
you!”
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John and Laurel said, “We love you too Dad, see
you soon!”
Then Ma, Laurel, and John boarded the train to
San Francisco on their very first train ride of
their life! They were so excited they could not
stop smiling. Once they were seated on the train
and Ma had given the conductor the tickets, John
and Laurel were allowed to explore the train at
their will, and so they did!
They checked out that train from front to back
and everywhere in between. They loved the
caboose very much, but even better that they
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The train stopped in every city imaginable, it
stopped so much and so often, that John and
Laurel wondered how it ever got from one
destination to the next!
Finally, after about ten or more grueling long
hours, they pulled into San Francisco, or so it
seemed to take that long to them! It was so nice
to arrive there and get off the train and feel the
winds of the bay blow fresh air into their faces
and swish their hair about their heads! Ma got
some people to put us in the right direction of
where she wanted to go and off we went to our
hotel. It had been fun on the train, but after an

181
hour or so it was tiring, and after more than that
it was too long…so when they went to sleep that
night they slept like rocks.
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Though John and Laurel didn’t know it at the
time, Ma was working on bringing home a new
husband from Jamaica. While John and Laurel
knew she had a friend there initially, they had no
idea how fond Ma was of Brook until she was
almost married to him in Jamaica one fateful
year.
Regardless of this surprise, John and Laurel
would flourish through the times that lay ahead
of them because they were young and insightful
as well as durable as far as kids go…
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CHAPTER NINE
EVACUATE THE FIRE!
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The opposite was true of the dry time of year in
Topanga. The beautiful time of year when
summer peaked and autumn neared was a
precious time in the mountains and canyons of
Topanga. The hills, trees, and the very earth
seemed to emit the very essence of earth scents all
around. Oaks and shrubs let out their beautiful
smells and colors and Topanga shined like a lit up
pumpkin ready for Halloween. All’s well that
goes well and when it doesn’t it seems to go to
bad fast. That’s what seemed to happen in the
years when fire struck Topanga and everyone
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inevitable that with such extreme heat and
temperatures something intense would happen in
the area. The heat would be so hot and intense in
John and Laurel’s room upstairs, in the
afternoon with the light off to help keep it cool,
the sweat just fell off their faces and down their
cheeks and chins. Sweat ran down their entire
back and kept on flowing from the intense heat.
The cool ocean breezes didn’t seem to come and
the heat was coming in waves that were making
Laurel sick. She didn’t like the water from sweat
dripping down her face like that, it didn’t feel
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cool and comfortable. She wanted to feel relief
from the sweltering and blazing heat that seemed
to settle on the canyon, settle on her home, and on
her very person. It was downright excruciatingly
hot! It was not right that it was so hot inside the
house, something was not right, and it wasn’t.
Something bad was coming upon the blazing hot
and dry canyon…and it wasn’t rain. Another
mystery in Topanga, a scary nature mystery, fire.
It came with little to no notice, and it came with a
vengeance roaring up and down the canyon, with
helicopters overhead and fire trucks with their
loud speakers slowly moving down every road

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and highway telling people they had to evacuate
NOW. The mysterious feeling of fear and the
unknown filled the atmosphere was drastic and
scary. Mama was there thank God. Big brother
John was there too. Laurel had to help get Zorba,
Lassie, and the cats into the VW bus fast with
John and Mama’s help. Then they had to get only
a few of their belongings to take with them.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, no time to lose!”
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They must leave at once. Would they come back
to their home in tack? Would they have a home
to come back to? It was so scary and mysterious
that it filled Laurel with fear of the unknown. She
didn’t want to leave her home with everything in
it. She had to leave now and she closed her door
behind her as Mama started the VW bus and it
chugged up the steep road toward the main
highway filled with everything they had that
really meant anything to them. Except Dad, he
was somewhere else, Laurel couldn’t think of
where he was-but it was likely work in Malibu.
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She knew he was safe and fine though. At least
she didn’t have to worry about him.
Mama, good Mama she had a place to take her
kids and animals, and she did. Mama took us to
a good friend’s house in Woodland Hills. Anita
and her family let us stay with her until the fire
was contained or put out enough for us to move
back into our home in Topanga.
It was great to have our wonderful friend Anita,
to stay with during our family emergency, and be
so comfortable in her beautiful and spacious
home in Woodland hills overlooking the valley
below.
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Anita Honor, a traditional Jewish lady, a
wonderful friend and person they could count on
in these rough times that they faced. Anita was
so friendly and nice to Laurel and her family over
numerous years that her very name would
remain special for the rest of Laurel’s life.
Laurel absolutely adored and loved Anita.
Anita’s two teenage children were friendly and
caring like her and Herb, Anita’s husband.
A place to evacuate with all of our pets and
everything meant a great deal to us. Anita had
opened her home and heart, along with her
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family, to us several times altogether during the
years we lived in Topanga.
Fire evacuations were hard enough for our
family to endure because almost all of our
belongings had to be left behind, it wasn’t that
they cost a ton of money, it was that they were
our things, and they had sentimental value like
family albums and other things.
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Ma, and John, and Laurel all prayed together to
God to ask him to spare their home from the
ravaging flames of the fire raging in the canyon.
They could not bring themselves to even think
that their home would not be there when they
could return to their canyon house.
Fires and floods were both devastating
conditions that ruined so many things and lives.
It was fortunate that we didn’t lose any family
members or pets in floods or fires.
Waiting for the fire to end was one of the hardest
things to do. It seemed to take forever for the
firemen to get the fire contained enough for them

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to allow people to go back into their homes and
resume their lives. But once we did we were very
glad it was all over and everyone was happy to be
back home, especially the cats and dogs, because
they loved home as much as we did.
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Laurel and her family had many grateful
prayers to God for sparing their home, and all
the other homes and wilderness animals that did
not parish from the fire that summer. Going
back home was relieving and happy for them to
do. But the flames of fire damage did inflict
damage to trees and some wildlife, but it also
brought renewed seeds and a chance for new life
to take hold…
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CHAPTER TEN
THE FLOODS!
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Most of the time Topanga was dry and arid.
The little streambed that went past the front of
our home was mainly dry. Then in winter the
rains would come, the water would loosen from
the sky and fall upon the canyon, and the stream
would turn into a wall of brown muddy roaring
water so high that it looked like it would take the
entire house down river with them all in it too!
The cold set in with the rain as well. That’s
when John and Laurel took turns huddling in
front of the small space heater set in the front
middle of their room. One early school morning
John was sitting next to the heater with his

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turquoise blue coat on, he was warming up before
the long walk to the bus stop, and he had his back
to the heater.
Laurel said, “John you’re sitting too close to the
heater, move back away from it so you don’t
catch fire!”
John ignored Laurel because he was so cold, the
heat wasn’t getting through his coat and he
wasn’t getting the warmth he needed, so he
stayed put, and his jacket got hotter and hotter.
Then his coat began to smoke and catch fire. He
took his coat off and put the fire out. The coat
had a small hole in it about the size of a silver

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dollar. The coat was ruined and smelled bad
with stuffing coming out from the corners where
the burn hole was. He looked sad and felt bad
about his coat. Our bedroom was stinky with the
polyester odors of the burnt fibers from his coat.
They were both glad that nothing worse had
happened from the heater and they were both
extra careful with the heater after that incident.
They left for school with sober faces and John
was minus his only jacket.
It sat on the floor right in front of the TV Ma
bought when they had lived in Tarzana before
they moved to Topanga. Cold was everywhere, it

205
seemed to seep into their very bones, up through
the long and narrow wooden floor boards
beneath their shoes and socks and up their legs
and into their very blood. The cold was relentless
and winning the war on warmth. Dad wasn’t
around, he was at work or at a studio apartment
of his own by now, it didn’t matter because John
and Laurel were getting bigger now and they had
to face some things on their own. Life was always
going to be beautiful and lovely, but the real part
of life and hardship was a factor too, and part of
life that belonged too it seemed.
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The rain fell in straight sheets, and thought one
would think the temperature would warm up
from the rains being present, it didn’t over all. It
got colder and rainier instead.
The gentle summer stream that had all but come
to a halt had become a fierce machine of battling
ravaging river walls coming out of every nook
and cranny, every seam in the canyon, and every
slope near and far.
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Gone was all the delicate featured streams of
late spring and early summer, where the toads
and frogs took up their territorial positions and
crooned love songs through the night searching
for their mate. No, a new world unfolded in the
winter with the rains. A world of terror and fear
and great trepidation.
If one of the family was to leave when the river
was passable, they’d have to return and park on
the other side of the creek to be able to drive
during the raining season. It could have been
Africa or any country where the weather and
land was wild and precocious, but it was in

210
southern California, in the canyons that took in
the ocean rainy moisture in great heaps and
loads, that changed the canyon so much into a
ravaged land.
All the animals hunkered down, the squirrel,
deer, and coyote too. Owls and skunks hid in
their burrows to escape the wild winter rains.
Hardly a peep came from birds who hid from the
torrential rains and barreling down river flowing
to the sea.
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John and Laurel took turns sitting in front of
the heater and traded off. Neither one liked
leaving the warmth of the heat to trade off with
the other, but it was necessary, if they were to
stay warm in the freezing cold house. The house
was meant to be a summer home, and it was a
perfect summer home, if it had a working ceiling
fan or air conditioner installed in it…which it did
not. When the ocean breezes came up the canyon
and filtered into the windows of the house it
cooled everyone down comfortably and the
temperature was as perfect as could be-but they
were not coming now.

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Until then, the cold was something that must be
endured, because the heater downstairs wasn’t
working or fixed for one reason or another.
There was money to fix it and operate the heater.
It was a matter of nobody wanting to pay for the
expense of running the heater as to why it was
not being put to use to warm up the house.
The lack of insulation along with the cold could
easily have cost Ma and Pa a small fortune to
heat up the summer house in winter.
John and Laurel did not mind going to school in
winter because in school they could be warmer
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being at home much better than school because
that is where their hearts were, but school had
more heat and warmth, which was also necessary
to them.
When John and Laurel went to Topanga
Elementary School the bus stopped at the top of
their road and it was easy to get to school. When
they went to junior high school it was a different
story for John and Laurel because the bus stop
was a lot farther away from home.
On school days John and Laurel had to walk
about a mile to their bus stop in front of the
American Legion Hall. They walked as fast as

215
they could to the bus stop, sometimes taking the
back roads and skirting the creek bed and side
roads. At other times they walked along the
narrow shoulder of the highway to their bus stop.
If they missed the bus then Mom would drive
them to school in the forest green 1960’s model
VW bus with the white pop up top on it.
John was so embarrassed by Mom driving up to
the school in the VW bus that he asked her to
park a block down the road away from the
school. Laurel thought it was too bad he was so
egotistical about the bus. She didn’t care what
Mom drove up in, she loved her Mom and the bus
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could have been a rainbow color, and it would
have made no difference to. Certain things
mattered in life and other things didn’t, this was
one of the things that absolutely did not matter,
and Laurel was absolutely sure about that.
Laurel may have been young but she was smart
even then about lots of things in life that really
mattered.
On top of being cold and foggy, the rains set in,
and it rained. It rained and rained and rained
again.
For a fact the river had taken houses down river,
with people in them or on them, as well as cars

217
and other things too. A wide wooden bridge
spanned the river so we never got stuck on the
wrong side of the river. Ma and Pa knew when to
park the cars on the other side of the river bed
when it had rained for any considerable length of
time. This prevented our family from being
stranded on the wrong side of the river when it
flooded every time.
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The mystery that such a fun, laughing, trickling
little stream dancing along towards the ocean
could turn into such a raging wall of fierce
muddy river, was astonishing to Laurel. It all
happened so suddenly the transformation from
minimal to monumental movement of great
masses of raging flood waters. Mom always said,
“In the spring, summer and autumn I pray for no
flooding so our house doesn’t flood!” It must
have worked because there never was a flood that
reached the house and came inside the entire time
we lived in Topanga. We were always fine and
safe from the floods, though sometimes the

219
sandstone rock wall rising high above in back of
the house became so wet that rocks loosened and
fell below dangerously close to our home. When
earthquakes shook the canyon the rocks came
down too and scared John and Laurel. The last
winter they lived in Topanga a boulder came into
the kitchen where John and Laurel had been
preparing food. Minutes after they left the
kitchen and went outside to look at the flooded
river, the boulder dropped, and Mom screamed.
John and Laurel ran home to see what was
wrong.
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Mom said, “You were both just in the kitchen
and I knew you were still there. I heard the
boulder come down from the rock cliff wall and I
thought you were both underneath it. I was sick
with fear and worry as I thought you were gone.
Here you are! Oh my God, here you are, I am so
happy!” Mom reached out to hug both Laurel
and John at the same time in the longest bear hug
of their lives. She held on for a long, long, time
and she was so relieved her kids were alive that
she couldn’t stop saying it.
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John and Laurel knew how fortunate they were
to be alive too when they walked into the tiny
kitchen and looked inside. A giant boulder
almost the size of the kitchen had come through
the wall making a shape of the boulder in the wall
left behind it. A big black hole gapped open and
that was all there was. John and Laurel’s eyes
were huge with astonishment. They knew how
lucky they were that day and Laurel thanked
God for saving their lives.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Country Days And Bliss II
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The mysteries of Topanga never ceased. Laurel
and John, along with Dad and Mom, were always
finding amazing things to do and see in the
canyon. Little surprises abounded at every turn
in beautiful Topanga Canyon.
One summer day a nonchalant tortoise showed
up in front of our house. The guy seemed friendly
enough and didn’t bite any of us. All the cats and
dogs gathered around the curious fella and gave
him due and proper respect. Then the tortoise
casually walked away and nobody ever saw it
again.
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Tadpoles and frogs were part of the landscape
along the creek in the mid spring into early
summer. The creek meandered past our house
and made its way towards the ocean, winding
through high canyon cliff walls amid the narrows
and at other times gently through sloping
countryside hills and bluffs.
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Laurel and John poked around along the creek
bed looking at skimmers for long periods of time
with curious minds. The critters were
interesting and could walk on the surface of the
water without sinking. A most amazing feat for
any creature.
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John and Laurel were very creative in Topanga.
Along a sandy side of the road near their
driveway they made a little city out of the semi-
soft sandstone rock. They made little caves as
houses for their city and their matchbox cars had
narrow roads to drive along that they made too.
For tools to carve the roads they fashioned
wooden popsicle sticks into sharp edged tools.
The roads needed continual maintenance just like
a real city. They played peaceably for hours
together side by side driving their miniature
metal cars around the little city streets back and
forth. It was a mellow time for John and Laurel.

233
About twenty feet up on the hill there was a little
bit of a flat area on the hill. A nice tree with just
the right size tree limb made it possible for a
beautiful bamboo wicker swing to hang from.
The swing positioned there was perfect for
Laurel. She loved the swing because it was built
like an egg shape. Swinging in it was quite an
experience because of the height from the road
below. It was like swinging from her own nest in
a tree top. The swing and where it was located
made Laurel feel like she was flying forward
losing sight of the ground beneath her. It was
amazing and thrilling. Sometimes she fell asleep

234
in the big nest swing as gentle slumber came upon
her brow. So sweet was the soft sleep that the far
away call of a bird in her sleep could waken her
after a while and she would remember that she
was outside in the lovely swing.
Swings were popular with John and Laurel, so
Dad put one up on one of the biggest old oak trees
near the edge of the old oak grove. Dad’s first
swing for John and Laurel to play on was made
of a plain wooden plank of wood. It was really
funny watching Pa put the rope across the high
limb. He had to be ingenious about latching a
heavy object to the end of the rope and aim his

235
throw perfectly over the exact spot that he
wanted to hang the swing.
He attached some rope to it on both sides and
hung it high on a thick limb on the great big oak
tree. Laurel and John spent hours swinging on
the wonderful swing, making sure they didn’t tilt,
or else they’d have fallen off the swing. Then Dad
put an old worn out tire on the end of a rope that
hung from the tree instead of the board to sit on.
The tire swing had a lot of advantages over the
flat seat swing Dad made because John and
Laurel could wind up the tire swing round and
round then hop onto it fast and unravel the rope

236
while on the tire swing. They did this over and
over again until they were dizzy and nauseous
from swinging and twirling amid the ancient old
oak trees. The colorful leaves and tree branches
swirled overhead round and round, round and
round, again and again…
Frog and toad songs filtered through the nights
on gentle evening breezes singing as the children
were lulled to sleep into lovely dreams with their
sounds.
Stars twinkled brightly high above the canyon
sky, twinkling like magic dust high up in the
heavens, then it was always as though the sky

237
shimmered back as the stars seemed to drop
gently down upon the canyon below with magical
star dust from heaven above.
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CHAPTER TWELVE
COUNTRY HORSE RIDES
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Laurel was a horse lover for as long as she could
remember. Some of her first books she ever
wrote and illustrated were of horses because she
loved them so much. She loved to read all about
them and couldn’t seem to get enough posters of
them up on her wall. She read all the Walter
Farley books about the Black Stallion, Black
Beauty, and every other horse and wild mustang
book she could get her hands on. She also liked
other animal stories too, especially wild animal
stories about bears, and mountain lions. TV
reception in Topanga was terrible where Laurel
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and John lived, but a fuzzy picture was better
than none at all.
Ideally Laurel liked to see horses in fields in
their natural state, or as close to their natural
state that they were going to get, in the area
where she saw them.
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Laurel first became aware of the beauty of
horses when she lived in Tarzana. Ma took her
on long stroller rides to beautiful flowing fields
that still existed in the San Fernando Valley just
north of Tarzana, where some beautiful horses
lived. Mama told Laurel and John that one of
their names was Paco.
The horses were big and beautiful and it was
always exciting for Laurel to see them in the field,
they were the highlight of the walk, and if they
were not in view while they were on the walk then
the walk was slightly less exciting.
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When Laurel moved to Topanga with her family
she noticed that there was a horse stables that
was there too. Before long she would ask Dad,
“When can we go ride a horse Dad? I want to go
horseback riding Dad, so much, oh please let’s go
soon!”
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Laurel would ask Dad several times and he
would take her and John up to the horse stables
and they would take nice long horse trails in
Topanga. These were some of the nicest times
Laurel could remember with her Pa. Laurel was
a lucky little girl in those days.
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Every time she got to go out horseback riding
the sun looked brighter, the fields gleamed with
more gold, and the sky was fresher and sparkly
blue. Life was perfect right there and then. Her
Pa was definitely a good Pa.
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In the spring during the Renaissance Faire
preparations, Laurel often saw newborn colts and
fillies with their mama’s in the fields, prancing
around on long spindly legs that looked like they
could barely hold them up. Laurel was always
amazed at the beauty and gracefulness of these
newborns.
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They always brought the same response within
her of spring, beauty and life, and something
intangible that she had no words to explain that
made her heart swell with happiness every time
she saw them.
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN~ THE

MYSTERY CART
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Zorba was named after a famous person named
Zorba the Greek who was known for his
liveliness. Zorba lived up to her namesake and
then some, considering she was a dog, and what a
dog she was.
On this special night Licorice smelled the food
out beneath the oak trees and decided it smelled
extra nice, so she meandered over to the food
bowl out there following the scent with her nose.
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The fallen leaves from the oak trees overhead
crunched and crinkled beneath her soft padded
feet and little twigs and branches moved under
the pressure too. Licorice had to keep her senses
on full alert in case one of the surrounding owls
decided it wanted to eat her for supper. She
cautiously made her way closer to the delicious
food which was almost within range of her teeth
and tummy.
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She paused to listen once more before taking a
bite of food. The air above and around her
swooshed with the sound of wind, but she knew
that it had to be the birds of prey mostly so she
paused again to make sure they didn’t come any
closer to her.
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Was that a flash of light or lots of flashes? It was
a lot of lights dancing about her too, these must
be the old ghost Indian spirits she was seeing, ah
but they would not bother her she thought.
Licorice looked up to see the owl shadows playing
with the lights in the air flying with them. Were
they possibly playing hide and seek, could that be
possible, well if it got the old birds out of her fur
then she wouldn’t give a hoot about any of their
business! Yikes, what was that thing that just
brushed by her shoulder? John and Laurel bent
down further to pet Liquorish gently on her back
and sides. They had been looking for her because

262
they didn’t want her to get eaten by the owls or
coyotes that roamed these parts of the canyon.
Licorice felt a wave of relief sweep over her as she
let herself be lovingly picked up by John. He
drew her close to his heart and carried her into
the house with Laurel right beside him. Licorice
blinked her eyes as the bright light of the house
met her eyes. John kept her in his arms and
brought her upstairs to his room. He put her
gently down on the hard wooden floor beneath
his feet and she padded off toward a patch of
cuddly stuffed animals on the end of his bed
where she jumped up gracefully and tucked her

263
head near her tummy in a little ball of fur. Then
she purred and eventually fell into sweet slumber.
The next day was cool and before the sun went
completely down John and Laurel went into the
“L” shaped room outside of the bedroom
upstairs. The room was a fully covered indoor
balcony with two sets of French windows that
opened inwards. Other smaller windows
surrounded the two main walls and on a small
part of the third wall. Here is where John and
Laurel sat with Licorish between them peering
out into the approaching dusk of night.
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They looked like a curious bunch up there in the
middle of the room with the French door
windows opened fully.
They were listening to the sounds of the woods
around them, the birds saying their goodnight
songs, and a car or two passing by on the
highway that passed Oakwood Drive.
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All became very quiet and still as the group
listened to the sounds around them and kept to
themselves their thoughts and ideas. Then they
heard a sound they had never heard before in
real life. It was a sound of a cart rolling along the
little road that winded past their house upstream,
crossed the stream, and continued up and around
past several old pines and a luscious ripe
pomegranate tree bursting forth with fruit. The
old creaky wheels were turning slowly as the cart
moved westward along the little one lane partially
paved road.
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Laurel and John looked at each other in
wonderment. Laurel asked John, “Do you hear
that, what is it?”
John looked toward where the sound had come
from and without turning his head answered so
softly Laurel could barely hear, “I hear it but I
don’t know where it is or what it is either!”
Licorice paid no attention at all to the sounds
and wasn’t amused in the least by the unusual
sounds, as she flicked her ears one way and then
the other to prove it. The wheels of the cart
rumbled on, but still nothing was to be seen,
nothing in sight that we could see.

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John and Laurel peered into the dim light and
couldn’t see a thing beyond a misty fog along the
roadway as chills ran up Laurel’s spine.
Laurel wondered what in the world was going
go. Such sounds were not of the modern era, at
least that she’d ever heard in her life, and it irked
her that she couldn’t see anything outside at all.
Of course Topanga was a very old country, with
a rich history of culture, people and events.
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John was a big comfort to Laurel, she would
have been much more afraid without him beside
her. It helped to have their pets too, they were
also a huge comfort, and always offered their love
and kindness to John and Laurel. John and
Laurel never mistreated their pets, they always
loved them, fed them on time, and cared for their
needs the best they could.
Lassie and Zorba were girl dogs who were good
guard dogs too. They kept an eye on John and
Laurel to make sure strangers didn’t happen by
without their knowing about it.
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Many generations of people had come and gone
in Topanga Canyon since it was so lovely and like
a refuge from the valley heat to the east , and
stormy seas to the west. It was understandably a
place of refuge for many people and animals for
many reasons and during many times.
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When Ma got home John and Laurel
told her about the cart rolling down the
road in shroud of mystery and how it
scared them so much. Nothing was very
scary once Ma got home, they rested
easy, but they never forgot the creeping
gravel sound of the old ghost cart that
slowly came down the road in another
dimension…
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LAUREL AND
UNCLE TOM ON
THE MOTORCYCLE
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It was high summer now, Laurel was about ten
years old, and living in the canyon with all its
mysteries was still revealing themselves to her
every day.
Dad had a Honda motorcycle he bought when
they lived in Tarzana which he brought up to
Topanga when we moved there and sold soon
after.
He took the bike out at times and found little side
roads to roam on along old dirt roads west of the
valley, skirting the mountains dividing the valley
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homes and the ocean beaches, which were the
Santa Monica Mountains.
One time Laurel got to go riding with Dad and
Laurel had a lot of fun riding on the back of his
blue motorcycle.
One pleasant summer morning Laurel was at
home with John and having a nice time. The
morning was still crisp and clean with dew still in
the air. Heat of the summer day was not yet
heavy upon the canyon.
The leaves were bursting with vibrant rainbows
of various colors of greens in all sorts of hues.
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From the sunniest of lime yellow greens to the
darkest of almost black greens, and all tones in
between, the colors of summer were bursting at
the seams in beautiful Topanga Canyon. The
intake of cool canyon air filled Laurel’s lungs
with pure country scents of oaks, pines, mountain
laurel, the wild wilderness tang of the native
animals, and other intangible scents of the land.
As Laurel was puttering about the house doing
absolutely nothing in particular, other than
enjoying the beautiful crystal clear summer
morning, she had a most pleasant surprise that
day.
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The noises from the highway near by continued
on and Laurel ignored the sounds for the most
part. Then she heard a motorcycle slow down and
turn down Oakwood Drive. Vroom…vroom.
Vroom! The motorcycle came right down the
steep road, to the creek bed, crossed it, and
started to climb up the road passing Laurel’s
house.
Laurel looked out the window of her house at the
person and the motorcycle and thought that there
was something about him that looked familiar to
her.
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She peered closer at the cyclist time and again.
The cyclist was a man, not very tall, he looked
youthful, and
energetic, and full of life. Laurel wondered if this
was her Uncle Tom.
She got a closer look at the cyclist to be certain
she knew him, and after that extra look she was
absolutely sure it was her Uncle Tom!
Uncle Tom was her twin uncle on her Dad’s side
who was only eleven years older than Laurel.
Uncle Tom was on the shorter side and his twin
brother Uncle Eddie was on the taller side.
Laurel was very excited to see Uncle Tom on his

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motorcycle come visiting on this fine summer
morning. He had a surprise for Laurel which
she was totally not expecting on top of his visit.
Laurel popped her head out the front door of the

two story summer house and said, “Hi Uncle
Tommie how are you?”
Laurel proceeded to rush out the door shutting
it behind her in her haste to run up to see Uncle
Tom. Tom took off his motorcycle helmet and
gave one of his classical chagrin looks at Laurel.
His Irish hazel eyes twinkled in amusement and
expectation as he had a surprise he had up his
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sleeve that he hadn’t yet revealed to Laurel.
Laurel knew Uncle Tom had driven from L.A.,
near Fairfax Blvd., all the way to Topanga
Canyon via the Santa Monica ocean beach route.
The exact route Pa drove the family to see Nana
every Friday for dinner and visiting, in reverse.
His wild and unruly Irish reddish afro
hair looked like a lion’s mane. His smart looking
sunglasses made him look even more ‘with it,’
making him fit into the 60’s ‘in crowd’ movement
perfectly, even though it was the early 1970’s.
“Hi Laurel, how are you, how’d you like to go for
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a ride with me on my motorcycle?” Tom casually
asked Laurel.
Laurel was excited and eager to go for a ride
with her Uncle Tommie on his Honda motorcycle
on this incredibly beautiful morning. Laurel said,
“Yes, I’d love to go for a ride with you Tommie!”
The next thing Laurel knew Uncle Tom was
handing her his extra motorcycle helmet and
helping Laurel adjust the straps under her chin.
Tom had to get his motor cycle started before
Laurel could hop onto the back and get a hold of
his waist with her arms around him so she
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wouldn’t fall off the bike during the motorcycle
ride.
Uncle Tom got his motorcycle started, he revved
up the engine a few times, and kicked up the kick
stand. Then he said hurriedly, “Hop on now
Laurel, hurry, okay! Now let’s go!”
Away they went down to the creek, through it,
past it and up the steep and narrow road to the
main highway.
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Uncle Tom paused long enough to make sure the
traffic was clear before he entered the roadway
and way they went zooming down the road with
huge grins of happiness on their sun lit faces!
Uncle Tom went east and west, up and down the
canyon road, winding along sharp curves and
byways. He found roads which led to other roads
and the sun and wind followed them everywhere
they went blowing their hair in every direction
possible.
The sun and wind blew in their faces and the
smiles were pasted there like a permanent
fixtures, they were a happy crew.

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Their hair blew out behind their helmets and
fanned out behind them. Uncle Tom’s afro waved
in the wind as Laurel’s long hair trailed around
and behind her. She loved this motorcycle ride
with Uncle Tom and she was as happy as a lark.
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There seemed to be nothing but summer and
them everywhere they went. The motorcycle with
them on it gave Laurel the feeling that she was
flying through the air much like a bird would fly.
There were no obstacles in their way, nothing to
block their view, just nature everywhere…it was
sheer delight to be on the motorcycle with Uncle
Tom.
Then Uncle Tom needed to take a rest break so
he stopped and when they did, they almost fell
over together because the bike was so big, bulky
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and high. Laurel had to hop off fast when Tom
stopped so he could manage the bike better
and keep it from falling over on its side.
When they were rested, Uncle Tom and Laurel
repeated the process of starting the motorcycle
just like they did at Laurel’s house, and
everything went fine.
They were cruising down the road once more,
wind flying through their hair and blowing into
their faces, happy as two larks flying on a
summer breeze. It seemed like the wonderful
motorcycle ride would last forever but it didn’t,

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only in their hearts as long as they remembered
it.
Uncle Tom was great that summer, he came and
took Laurel for several motorcycle rides that
summer, and it would be a lifetime memory she
would share of him that would always bring a
great big smile to her face. Laurel would later tell
her family all about it, time after time, through
the years. Uncle Tom was just getting started in
his motorcycle enthusiasm years. He began
racing his motorcycle on the racetrack with other
racers on the weekends.
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Dad would take Laurel and John to almost all
of the races Uncle Tom was in.
The glory of the motorcycle took on a new and
serious meaning for Uncle Tom. Uncle Eddie also
came to many of the races to lend support to
Uncle Tom’s racing endeavors and sport.
To us it was wild, the crowds in the stands, the
pit crews, the sodas and hotdogs, blazing sun
pouring through the very fiber of us was intense,
and the noise levels of gads of racing
motorcycles blasting to the heavens!
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There’s nothing like motorcycle racing unless it
is compared to car racing.
Cars probably make much more noise, but the
motorcycles sure can put some high level decibels
into the air!
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Everyone was always proud of Uncle Tommie
for his racing ventures, he may not have won a
race, though he may have, Laurel does not
remember him coming in last.
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Even when he wreaked his bike once and got
hurt, he was okay, and went on to race some
more after that for a while before he stopped
racing his motorcycle altogether.
Regardless of all the motorcycle racing fanfare
the fine summer days, when the sun was still cool
upon Laurel’s brow and the wind was blowing
through her hair, those were the days she enjoyed
Uncle Tommie and his motorcycle the most!
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LAUREL AND
JOHN AND LAUREL
BEST FRIENDS
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John and Laurel had not always been best
friends. They had started out in life as good
friends, and then they argued often, and dissent
and jealousy followed and marred their natural
friendship. After several years of living in
Topanga Canyon, and having their family go
through many changes, John and Laurel grew
closer together in a bond that would forge a life-
long friendship.
As Ma and Pa drew apart in Topanga Canyon,
John and Laurel drew together and they both
gained strength from one another to be stronger
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in their spirits and hearts as they faced the world
side by side during the turbulent times ahead for
them yet to come.
Ma took John and Laurel to a special park in
Santa Monica that had a garden so lovely it
seemed to belong in a different country or
something. It had swans and a lovely garden
setting that was quite stunning.
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Laurel and John had several friends while they
lived in Topanga Canyon. Some were their
neighbors and classmates and others were from
Tarzana and other places.
Things were pretty exciting in Topanga when
Laurel’s good friend Theresa Stone’s mother,
Cathy, became friends with Laurel’s Ma. Cathy
Stone had been a runner up in a recent Miss
Universe contest and she was a very lovely and
kind lady. Her children were nice and Laurel
spent a lot of time with Theresa. When Cathy’s
son out grew his mini motorcycle she sold it to Pa
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and Ma for John. The mini motorcycle was
John’s favorite color purple and he loved riding
on his cycle tremendously.
He roared up and down our street back and
forth time after time until the neighbors all went
bananas. Then he drove it some more! That
summer he got the mini cycle he must have put
several hundreds of miles on it…and drove the
thing into the ground. He had a white helmet and
all Laurel could see of him was the white part
zipping up and down the road because the helmet
stood out against all the dark shadows beneath
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the old oak tree groves. He was really cute
speeding along in his short sleeve shirts with his
blue jeans. His concentration so high he didn’t
make any mistakes and tip over.
The high pitch of the mini bike was loud though
and Laurel preferred the quiet of the canyon to
the roar and whine of John’s bike. Laurel knew
how much fun John was having so she didn’t
complain much.
Then Laurel got invited to go with Theresa to
the San Diego area with her grandmother who
worked at a university there. They had a great
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time staying at a nice motel a few nights right by
some warm ocean waters that Laurel had not had
the change to explore until then. It was her lucky
day with Theresa because they found a pop in the
soda machine when they got to the motel too.
Laurel loved the warm water off the San Diego
seas as they came ashore into little inlets.
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Then they stayed for several more days on
campus, and roared around the grounds on bikes,
and had a blast together the whole time. They
looked a lot alike, so much so that some people
must have thought they were twins!
Once back home John and Laurel got back into
the routine of things. They had to explore their
pomegranate tree often to make sure it didn’t
bloom and fruit before they could harvest the
jewels within to eat and enjoy. Topanga Canyon
pomegranates are the world’s best! John and
Laurel’s pomegranate tree was right next to the
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road where they lived on the other side of the
creek.
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Just past the pomegranate tree was a stand of
pines that the county wanted to take down
because they had some plans with some utility
lines. Ma loved the stand of pines and she made
up her mind to take a stand for those pines and
try to save them from getting cut down, which
was on the agenda for them, according to the
county. Ma took her ideas and plans to the right
department and stated her case about why the
pines ought to be spared and she won the case.
The stand of pines were spared from being cut
down and Ma was very proud of her
accomplishment in helping save the beautiful

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trees. Laurel and John were proud of their Ma
too.
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John and laurel spent hours together playing

cards, football and games. They were buddies as
well as brother and sister. Only the later teenage
years would separate them and find them going
in different directions, but they’d remain close
for the rest of their lives.
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mysteries Of Topanga
Canyon~ Camping Out II
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Ma was an adventuresome lady just like her
daughter Laurel. Every couple of summers Ma
asked Pa if he would set up the big blue family
tent across the creek for her to camp out in. Pa
would set up the big tent for Ma. Then for about
a week the turquoise blue tent would be set up
and Ma and Laurel would camp out in it at night.
Ma would bring a flashlight and candles to have
light in the tent and it would always be a big
adventure to camp out in the tent with Ma.
Laurel was always brave in the tent as long as her
Ma was with her there. The tent was not located
very far from the main road, and the noises from
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the cars were pretty loud a good part of the night.
The night would get very dark outside and Ma
would light some candles so we could see.
The candle light flickered off the ceiling and
walls of the tent and made the shadows dance. It
was fun and exciting as long as Ma was there.
John and Pa didn’t like to camp out in the tent
with Ma and Laurel so they didn’t much if at all.
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Laurel and Ma camped out there most. Ma
always had plenty of candles to last the night.
Sometimes an owl would hoot and Licorice or
another family cat would come by for a visit
before meandering along back home. They likely
wondered what Ma and Laurel were doing in the
big blue tent when they could be at home in the
nice white two story house across the creek.
But they always managed to get a good night of
sleep. In the morning the sun would be bright
and the grasses all around the tent still had a lot
of dew on them.
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It was an interesting feeling getting up and
leaving the tent and going across the long bridge
made out of two long telephone poles with pitch
on them and covered with slabs of pine boards to
walk across. Or going down the road and across
the creek, which usually still had some running
water at this time of year, and then going home
from this route.
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Ma wanted the tent up a good part of the hot
summer nights. The tent at up at night was nice
to stay in because it made them feel like they
were extra close to nature and the frogs and
crickets that made noises through the night.
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The warm nights felt comfortable, and the arid
heat of late summer and fire season were far
away. So were the torrential rains that flooded
the canyon every year. All the troubles of the
year seemed to fade away in a magical wafting
moment of time as they relaxed in the big blue
tent.
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Come morning time, Ma and Laurel packed
their things to the house until night came and it
was time to camp out again.
In any case it was interesting coming home from
a night of sleeping out in the tent across the
creek. It would have been a lot more fun if Pa
had camped out there with them.
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Laurel loved her Ma tremendously for a whole
bunch of reasons. Ma was talented and smart as
well as very pretty and friendly too.
Ma was a great artist and jewelry maker too. She
was a good business woman as well. She knew
how to put John and Laurel to work for very little
money. But that was mainly because they loved
her and wanted to help out the family the best
they could, and they did. Ma was Laurel’s shining
beautiful rose.
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Ma saw beauty in many things in nature and
people. She was kind and loving and good as well.
She had to be these things or James Martin would
never have found her, or her him, years later in
life.
James Martin was the Great Great Grandson
of Chief Joseph. James Martin would adopt Ma
and Laurel into the Nez Perce, Nimiipuu tribe in
the 1980’s in Wimer, Oregon at his quarter horse
ranch.
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It was Ma who taught Laurel to love nature even
more than her Pa. Ma adored nature profoundly
and her saving the pine trees near their home in
Topanga was a big growing place in Laurel’s heart
Because she began to gather how important trees
were on earth and for people.
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It would be a day in history the world would
never forget. Certainly Laurel and Ma never
forgot, and they tell the story to the generations as
they come into the world.
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In Topanga Canyon the summer was one of the
loveliest places on the planet. The temperature
was perfect in every way. The canyon glowed with
the animals and trees that lived and breathed
there. It was alive with energy from these things
and God was everywhere to make it so beautiful
and fruitful.
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Ma and Laurel would always love one another
throughout their lives. Not even death could
separate their love.
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Chapter Seventeen
Backpacking Tuolumne
Meadows to Yosemite Valley
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The very idea of getting out in nature was an
exciting one for the backpackers in Laurel’s
backpacking party of five. The party consisted of
ten year old Laurel, her year and a half older
brother John, their Pa who will lead the
expedition, along with his two younger twin
brothers Tom and Eddie. Uncle Eddie and Tom
are in their early twenties. The twins are not like
each other much at all. Uncle Eddie is tall and
slim while Uncle Tom is short and stout. It’s
spring and Pa has an excited look in his eyes as he
searches for his maps to bring over to Nana’s and
Pop’s house to go over the preliminaries with his

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brothers regarding the trip. Uncle Ed and Uncle
Tom live at Nana and Pop’s house with them.
Almost every Friday afternoon Pa takes Laurel
and John to Nana and Pop’s house for a nice
dinner and visit. Ma had come for almost ten
years before she stopped going there. Everyone
knew why Ma had stopped coming to dinner at
Nana’s house on Fridays once a week. It was
because Nana made rude jokes towards her and
Mama had enough of them to last a lifetime.
Mama put her foot down one day and said,
“John, I’m not going to Nana’s anymore.” That
was that. After that she might drive out to

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Fairfax Blvd. where Nana lived but she didn’t
visit, she’d drive out to visit her friends in
another area. Then she’d come back to Nana’s
and Pa would drive us all home. Then she
stopped doing that too. Life was changing in lots
of ways slowly but surely. Laurel wished
sometimes that things wouldn’t change because
she liked things just the way they were. She
missed her Ma at dinner with Nana.
There is a lot of thinking and planning that
needs to be done before a backpacking trip into
the high mountains of the Pacific Crest (Rim)
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Trail. Laurel and John went with Pa to North
Hollywood to a sporting goods store and spent
hours over the course of several weeks selecting
items and food that they will need to take on the
trip with them. Laurel sees rows and rows of
packaged dry goods for backpackers and
campers. The foods just need to have water
added to them before they are edible.
It was very important to bring the right amount
of food, not too little, not too much. Everything
that was brought and packed had to be carried
on their backs like pack horses so they had to be
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wise about what to bring along on their three to
five day hike from the Pacific Rim Trail to the
Yosemite Valley floor.
The packaged foods come in a large variety. Pa
sticks to familiar foods we have eaten in past
backpacking trips in Tuolumne Meadows. Pa
liked the foods and so did the rest of the
backpacking party. Uncle Ed was the smart guy
on the trip because he always brought along
small cans of Deviled Ham which was the hit of
the food parade for main meals. Needless to say
there wasn’t much of one of those dinky cans to
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go around and later on the trail the best that the
rest of us could do was get a good whiff of the
spicy ham and be contented with that.
Laurel felt that she’d spent enough time in the
sporting goods shop looking at the last item and
canteen for long enough. It already seemed like
they had spent the better part of the day there
already although they probably had not. The
metal and plastic packaged foods were lined up
assembly style like one might imagine the
shopping pantry to look like at the earth based
space pantry.
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Pa looked at all the foods over and over again
like he’d see something he had not seen the
minute before when he had just looked there. Pa
stayed with the noodle soup with chicken
bouillon, beef swill, dried apricots and hot cocoa
mix. Pa had recently bought his VW Bug and it
was bright yellow. This is the car we would take
up to the Pacific Rim Trail to begin our
backpacking trip. Laurel called it the Lemon
Drop car because it was exactly that color.
Laurel loved Pa’s VW and loved to ride around
in it. She didn’t mind Pa lighting up his brand
name cigarettes and smoking as they drove along

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everywhere. Laurel was so used to his smokes
that she associated the smoke with Pa and vice
versa. Laurel didn’t know that smoking was not
only bad for the smoker but bad for the people
around the smoker like her. Laurel and John
were secondhand smokers even though they
didn’t smoke because they breathed in the smoke
from Pa’s cigarettes. Pa tried to not smoke more
than half a pack a day and was proud of this
amount he restricted himself to.
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Today had been especially long and eventful
because Pa seemed extra content with his
purchases at the sports store.
There was a smug look of happiness about
having all he needed now for the success of the
trip. Hopefully the backpackers wouldn’t get
rained out by a powerful thunderstorm with
lightning packed, and or with hail. This
happened to them once and the weather was so
severe they had to leave Yosemite National Park
and return to Topanga Canyon without
backpacking for more than an hour or two.
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Specialty items on the trip included M&M’s
plain chocolate candies in the biggest package
they made.
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Sometimes Pa brought along lemon drops on the
trip to spice up the backpacking adventure.
Laurel always loved it when Pa asked if everyone
was ready for a stop break. When everyone was
ready to take a break everyone took off their
backpacks slowly and laid them down. Laurel
and John each had a bright neon orange
backpack that looked bigger than them because
the packs were so full and the frames were huge.
Pa looked around at the group and inquired,
“Would anyone like some M&M’s?” He had
already begun to unstrap his backpack to look
for the package of candy which he kept near the

353
top of his backpack so he could access them
readily.
Laurel piped up, “I want some Dad!” Pa slowly
opened the bag to get Laurel some candy as his
ears perked listening for other people in the party
who might also want some. Sometimes someone
would want some, but Laurel always did, and Pa
usually did too. Laurel waited for the M&M
breaks expectantly and considered them an
essential component of backpacking in the Sierra
Nevada.
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Laurel liked the lemonade and icy river and
high mountain lake water that was found in the
glacier mountainous areas they were in. The
water was pure and priceless. It poured forth
from her camping cup into her soul, that’s how
pure it was. The water refreshed body and soul.
The air was crisp and clean. The trail ahead
seemed to lead into forever. Life backpacking on
the Pacific Crest Trail was like walking in heaven
itself.
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The party of five seldom met other people along
the trail. A person here and there in groups of
one or two people was all they saw. Our group
waited to reach the store which was supposed to
be open for backpackers half way to Yosemite
Valley Falls Trail.
At no time was anybody ever manning that store
that Laurel ever saw. The excitement and talk
about the store was a conversation piece for them
that did not seem to exhaust itself until they
reached the store all boarded up from the winter
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before. With brave faces the party moved forth
enjoying the trail the best they could.
There were many things to enjoy on the trail.
There were not many trees at the elevation they
were backpacking in and on along the Pacific
Rim Trail and vicinity. Trees were short and
squat for the most part. There were often large
expanses of beautiful meadows blowing golden in
the summer breezes. White glacier rocks and
ancient land met them at every glance in every
direction. The meadows and mountains danced
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and became united. The meadows moved into the
depths of the forests and back again.
Laurel started off with her group in the
meadows and trekked forever in one day. Pa was
very good at keeping the group from drifting
away from one another. About a week or two
before every backpacking trip Pa would tell
terrible and horrible true account stories about
brutal and often fatal bear and human
encounters where the bear always won. Then at
night nobody drifted too far off from camp for a
private moment no matter what because of the
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‘Toilet Creepers!’ Toilet Creepers were hideous
grotesque monsters that lived in nature and
grabbed you if you went too far away from the
campsite at night.
The trail moved through switchbacks up and
down steep mountain trails. The idea of the
switchback was that it basically consisted of
repeated Z patterns. These trails were usually
along trails shaded with tall pines that blew the
lake air below and stirred it all up and outward
cooling everybody and everything. It was fun for
Laurel to go on the switchbacks because they
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were interesting and out of the norm for trail life.
On the second night of the trip everybody was
still sitting by the fire after their meal of beef
swill and water. They built a campfire and sat
around it enjoying the light of the flames fanning
out warmth to them all and illuminating their
faces from the shadows. There had to be enough
water to cook with and drink. They had to make
sure their water bottles were filled up at various
streams and lakes so they’d always have enough
water for their needs while backpacking.
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Then Uncle Ed or Tom would tell a story
around the campfire. Pa was careful to not tell
another of his bear stories because he had done so
already at home. Then they cleaned up after the
meal was eaten. The cookware was cleaned and
put away, along with the eating utensils, tin
plates, cups and bowls. Laurel had hiked all day
with several breaks including breakfast and
lunch which were extended ones.
That night after dinner everybody spread out
their tarps before laying out their sleeping bags
on top of them. The night was cool, a perfect
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cool, to sleep like an angle in the heavens. Wasn’t
that what was happening, were they not in
heaven here at the top of the world? Laurel
climbed into her sleeping bag and looked up at
the dark night sky. Her mind was open wide with
the expanse of what spread across the vast sky
above and beyond and everywhere she looked.
The stars were more brilliant and sparkly than
she had remembered them to ever be. The stars
were like a blanket filling the vast of everything
everywhere. What was that? What was that
sound? What oh what could it be? The sound of
QUIET abounded in Laurel’s ears like pearls

363
from heaven. There were no jets with smog and
noise pollution rattling the Pacific Crest and Rim
Trail! No jerking out of a peaceful sleep as jets
broke the peace, solitude, and heavenliness of this
most precious place on earth. The pollution from
their jet exhaust didn’t rain down on the jewel of
the sierras Nevada.
The refreshed sleep that they derived up in
those mountains was beautiful and replenishing.
In the morning Pa and Uncle Tom and Ed got
breakfast together. Laurel loved drinking her
instant cocoa to the last drop. She couldn’t wait
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for the boiling water to finish boiling for her
instant oatmeal and cocoa. It was her cocoa that
she relished most. After breakfast Laurel helped
put breakfast things away and rolled up her
sleeping bag with the help of Dad. Everything
was compacted into the backpacks carefully.
Their party was a responsible one. They packed
out everything they packed in and like good
scouts they made their campsite better than they
had found it. They never left garbage or
anything behind and never tried to attract the
bear population to themselves. Though the
M&M’s were probably tempting to the bears and

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they probably thought of getting to the sweets.
Laurel hoped with all her heart that these
mountains on the Pacific Rim and Crest Trail
would always remain precious to Americans and
people around the world.
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She hoped that jets would never be allowed to
cross over these precious gems in numbers
greater than the stars above with their jet poison
plumes dusting the pure mountain air, lakes, and
streams. Laurel hoped that the precious
mountains in the world would be loved,
protected, and appreciated by people everywhere
around the earth forever, then that would be
heavenly, and people would only stand to gain
from it in the long run.
The next morning broke just like the other two
had. They had camped beneath a stand of tall
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slim pines and put their food up in tree limbs not
far from where they slept that night. It was fun
watching Uncle Tom and Uncle Ed toss the 1”
hemp rope high into the air trying to get it over a
branch big enough to hold our food. Finally they
thought of making one end of the rope a little
heavier than the rest of it and tossed it once more
into the tree and voila! The rope caught hold of a
perfect branch and both uncles went to work
tying the backpacks up to them and proceeded to
hoist them up the tree.
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Laurel was not so sure about things now. She
hadn’t thought much about the bears yet until
now.
With the food up in the first trees big enough to
carry food on, she had time to think about it, and
she was concerned about the bears. She tried
taking her mind off the bears and got to thinking
about other things. Finally sleep set in and
Laurel fell into a deep sleep. Morning light
filtered gently through the stand of pines with
white light through Laurel’s eyelids. She peeked
out of her eyes to see snow everywhere! Snow on
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her, covering John, Pa, Uncle Ed and Uncle Tom
and everywhere she could see! Cold, it was
freezing cold, she didn’t want to get out of her
sleeping bag, no way!
Dad said, “It snowed and we need to try to
shake of the bedding and dry it some before we
get going today.” He was getting out of his
sleeping bag gingerly. He put on his thick leather
high top hiking boots and new clean socks and
grabbed his sweater and jacket putting them on
in record breaking speed. In one swoop he
whisked off the tarp he had laid over us before
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we went to bed. The snow fell off it like fine
white dust. Pa said, “See? Shake off the snow
from everything and let’s try to dry everything
we can!” Everyone did as Pa bid them to do.
Then the sleeping bags were laid on some of the
lower parts of tree limbs and bushes beneath the
trees. The backpacks were taken down from the
tall pines by Uncle Ed and Uncle Tom. They had
grim looks on their usually cheery faces. They
didn’t like the snow any better than anyone else
did. Breakfast preparations were underway and
they ate quickly with a sense of urgency. Nobody
knew where the trail resumed toward Yosemite

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Valley. Pa asked, “Can anyone see where the
trail is? Let’s try to find it before we get going.”
Laurel had her tennis shoes on and so did John.
The adults all had nice leather hiking boots.
Laurel went out into the surrounding area with
Pa and John and her uncles trying to find the
trail. Dad, “How will we find the trail? I can’t
see it anywhere!” Pa just looked at Laurel with a
look that said ‘just try.’
The further from their campsite they went
looking for the trail the deeper the snow became.
The snow was up to laurels ankles, then to her
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knees, and finally it came all the way to the top of
her legs. She could not walk in this snow. She
did not know what Pa would decide to do and she
was scared. John looked as worried as Laurel
and he didn’t say anything.
The group made their way back to their
campsite. They hunkered down by the remains
of their campfire. The heat was waning. The
cold was winning. It looked like there was no
hope for them now. They were in the middle of
heaven and they were caught in a snowstorm far
away from the safety of human comforts like
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warmth and protection from the elements of
nature.
The air around the group was that of deep and
grave concern. The wrong choice here would
mean possible death. The right path was
important, the way to their destination, their final
to their vacation extravaganza. The three
brothers sat together talking little with serious
faces. Talking was low and thoughtful, nobody
wanted to make a bad decision, they were taking
their time and trying to make the best choice.
They began reviewing the path they had taken
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the day before coming into camp for the night.
They made a mental trail of where they had
come.
They talked about where they thought the trail
was and why. Trails are often marked with rocks
stacked one on top of the other sometimes up to
ten high. If a hiker sees a rock has fallen from its
perch, they often put it back on the stack as a
courtesy to the next hiker, so they can find the
trail and know they are on it.
Laurel never knew for sure but she thought that
one of her uncles or Dad had seen a snow covered
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trail marker along the snow laden trail. After
seeing that he thought that it must me the right
way to go and that is one of the reasons they
found the right trail. Laurel thought it had to be
the grace of God too that helped out their little
party of five to find the trail once more after such
a big snow storm.
How Laurel got through all that snow with John
in their only pair of tennis shoes each remains a
mystery today. Somehow with the endurance
that only the young have they found a way and
made it through the snow and the snowstorm
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together. Wet feet, cold feet and limbs, wouldn’t
daunt Laurel and John. Later that day the trail
emerged and they were so happy their grins must
have radiated the glow from the sun itself!
Who’d think finding a trail was fun or thrilling
or exhilarating? We all felt that way, especially
Laurel, she never loved a trail more than on that
day on the Pacific Crest Trail.
The emergency and immediate urgency of their
situation was very impactful in Laurel’s life. It
changed the way she saw things and she knew
that it was one of the first miracles she
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experienced in her life. The day got increasingly
nicer and nicer. It was summer again. Winter in
the morning and summer in the evening! That’s
the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
The next night was uneventful and they hoped
that they would reach Yosemite Valley by the
next day. They went to bed thinking of what
restaurant they wanted to eat at as soon as they
got to a big city. Sleep came softly to them that
night and Laurel said an extra prayer of
thankfulness to God for helping them get out of
the snowstorm and safely to the trail again. Sleep
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came and then it was dawn and the birds were
softly singing their morning greeting songs. A
sure sign that they were definitely coming down
in elevation by considerable amounts.
Laurel helped get breakfast ready and ate with
her family. They cleaned up and rolled up their
sleeping bags and took to the trail once more.
They almost thought they would reach Yosemite
the day before but they were running a day
behind for some unknown reason.
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The sun was shining brightly this morning and
Laurel’s heart was trilling with the excitement of
the long trip thus far, the snowstorm, and the
advent of getting to the valley today!
The trail was nice, more trees than ever now,
and loveliness everywhere she looked. The day
got nicer, the bird songs got sweeter and more
plentiful, and other chipmunk and squirrels were
joining in the happy nature chorus. This is life
and it is so great thought Laurel as she breathed
in the pine scented air all around her.
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The wind gently brushed her cheeks and tossed
her wavy hair that looked like a cloud on her
head and all about her.
There were more people now, she could see
them coming along the trail towards her, in
greater numbers. They surely were getting closer
to the valley. Pa didn’t want to stop and make
lunch. Everyone wanted to eat in the valley at the
restaurant there. Something new was happening
now. The trail was narrowing so that it ran up
against a rock and sandstone like wall to the left
of the trail. To the right was a sheer cliff where
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the Yosemite Falls fell down to the Yosemite
Valley floor below! The sun was glancing
through the pines and mist of the falls. It was
beautiful and cool here on the trail but there were
too many people on the trail and Laurel didn’t
know what to do. She had the huge orange
backpack strapped onto her back and nothing to
hold onto. She was very scared. Did Pa just take
her backpack? She didn’t know or care because
she was so frightened.
Laurel said, “Dad, what do I do, I can’t do
this?” Laurel’s face drooped and her eyes looked
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directly into her Pa’s eyes. Pa said, “It will be
alright Laurel, just hold my hand, and don’t let
go!”
People came, more and more of them, and then
yet more. Laurel saw them all coming and
ducked her head and hugged the rock wall so
tight she had to force herself to let go to step
further along the trail.
She looked at the wall in front of her that she
was clinging to while holding Pa’s hand. She held
so tightly to the wall that it felt like she was part
of the wall. Pa somehow got Laurel down the
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trail past all those people and it was one of the
hardest things Laurel had done. Laurel had
expected many things on her backpacking trip
with her Pa, brother John, Uncle Tom and Uncle
Ed, but she never ever expected that she’d have
to walk along a trail like this one.
The snow and sheer cliff trail had taken a toll on
Laurel’s love of backpacking. She knew that it
was a wonderful thing to go backpacking but that
there were also some things in nature that were
big concerns like unexpected snowstorms and
other weather.
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Yosemite Valley never looked so good to Laurel.
She went to the restaurant and ate a nice
cafeteria lunch with her family. She was back in
civilization eating at a restaurant. Laurel wrote a
poem about her backpacking trip on the Pacific
Rim Trail. This was also one of the last times
Laurel, Pa, and brother John would vacation
together while Laurel was a youth.
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Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite
Valley Poetry
Golden and vibrant green grasses rise up from
the rich soil blowing in the wind
They move and sway in a harmonic way rippling
the grass in waves
The sun comes out to fill the sky and warms the
soul as it should
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Long shadows fall from distant places on the
crest and rim of the world
It is different here a place set apart where
pristine skies abound
Where fresh water is everywhere and crystal
clear and cold
The lakes are icy fresh and clean, blue and green,
with fish who roam within
The bears are there, coyote, along with deer and
squirrels too
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The night sky is filled with velvet white stars that
light a path to happy dreams and visions
Take a star and jump upon it and follow this star
like a flying carpet and see where it will lead…If
you are lucky and catch a falling star then you
can take it anywhere…anywhere forever and
ever
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Chapter Seventeen
Ebony
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392
L
aurel was about ten years old when she
walked into a beautiful African themed
store in Los Angeles with her Mama
Vivian. Laurel was immediately
impressed with this big shop, boutique, in Los
Angeles.
Shiny giant loop gold earrings, jewelry that was
beautiful and new as well as fashionable.
Laurel and Mama met the store keeper and
owner whose name was Ebony.
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Ebony was a dark skinned beautiful young
woman. She was a mother of two boys, one a baby,
and married too.
Ebony was a classic beauty, tall and slender,
fashionable with African American style. She
usually wore her hair lightly held back with an
animal print headband in a soft black cloud
swirling about her head.
Ebony was symbolic for many more reasons than
ones mentioned by Laurel. Ebony was like a
Phoenix Rising in Los Angeles after all the turmoil
and trouble in Watts. Her very presence and shop
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stood out in the city like a beautiful light beacon to
all those who would have eyes to see, sharing a
story of success for a young woman who made life
wonderful, and lived her life sharing who she was
in living vivid color for all to see and appreciate.
When in Ebony’s presence Laurel felt at ease
and comfortable. Laurel liked and trusted Ebony.
Laurel watched Ebony as she combined
motherhood, being a good wife, and being a suave
business woman all in one. She had to juggle it all
to make it happen and Laurel marveled at how
Ebony did it all.
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Without knowing it, Laurel had been put smack
in the middle of Ebony’s life, just as normally as
the sun beams on one’s brow.
Ebony had so many things in her store for sale
that it was like being in a museum to Laurel.
There were several rooms in Ebony’s African shop
and a person could quite comfortably stay there
and melt into the environment.
Laurel loved the room with the giant animal
print stuffed pillows that were about as big as she
was. There were zebra, leopard and giraffe
animal prints on the huge pillows. Laurel would
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come to the store with her Mama time and again
as they became better acquainted friends with
Ebony.
Ebony was a warm and genial lady. When
Laurel first met her she had no idea what kind of
private life Ebony led. But this changed over time
and Laurel became a part of Ebony’s life too.
Ebony had big steel drums that were musical
instruments. Ma bought a few from Ebony and
took up playing them at home. They had a
resounding beat that was beautiful and surprising
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at the same time. Nobody would guess that these
drums could sound so good.
Ma took Laurel and John to the beach to hear
steel drum bands playing at sunset in Venice many
times. The people would gather on the sand in a
huge circle and play island beats on the giant
drums.
Laurel’s home became designed with many of the
things Ma loved at Ebony’s store. Ma had several
giant multi-printed pillows on the floor in the
living room spread around a roughhewn table Pa
had made for Ma. These pillows were comfortable
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and firm. They didn’t sink to the floor when sat
upon.
After quite some time Laurel and Mama were
visiting Ebony at her home.
It was a long drive from Topanga Canyon deep
into Los Angeles where she lived. Sometimes
Laurel’s older brother John came along, he was a
year and a half older, and it was quite a deal to go
visiting.
Mama often stopped at Thrifty Drug store to buy
John and Laurel a treat to help offset the long trip
to see Ebony.
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After an hour or so they would drive up to
Ebony’s house. Ebony lived on the upper floor of
a two story apartment building in a nice part of the
neighborhood.
Ebony introduced her baby and older child to
Laurel’s family. Laurel didn’t meet Ebony’s
husband often because he was often away.
Laurel liked Ebony’s family a lot, and especially
her baby whose name was Cowa.
Cowa was adorable, with beautiful black tiny curls
all over his head. He was a good baby, rarely
fussy, and sweet.
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Ebony’s husband and older son were very quiet
and didn’t talk a lot with John or Laurel, likely
because he was shy like they were. He was friendly
and helped his mother with Cowa when she asked
him to.
Ebony’s husband was young, slim, and stylish
like Ebony. His name was Warren and he was not
home very often when Laurel’s family went
visiting Ebony.
Because it took so long to get to Ebony’s home,
she often invited Ma, John, and Laurel to stay
overnight with her.
401
In the morning Ebony would prepare cereal for
her sons and welcomed John and Laurel to cereal
as well. She was generous and shared her bread
better than most hostesses would.
At the time, Laurel didn’t notice, but later she
did, which was the fact that maybe Ebony shared
with Laurel and her family even though it may not
have been easy for her to do so.
Laurel appreciated Ebony’s generosity and being
embraced by her into it as naturally as silk is soft.
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It was nice to stay with Ebony and not have to
drive all the way back home. So the summer went
by and the seasons changed.
Getting to know Ebony was a rare opportunity
for Laurel and her family. The rarity of the event
and the special unique qualities around the
friendship of Ebony’s family and Laurel’s family
was not entirely lost on Laurel during the time
when the friendship was in full swing.
Laurel was deep into the life she led, and felt life
as a child on the cusp of becoming a young lady, at
about ten years old. She was beginning to
403
understand friendships and value them more from
those who offered friendship in her life and
pertaining to her family.
Laurel had the ability to appreciate how Ebony
lived her life, in her world with her family, on her
turf. This experience opened doors and windows
on the lives of everyone involved.
Laurel saw that Ebony loved and cared for her
family tremendously. She loved her husband, she
loved her sons, she loved her business and she
loved life. Ebony was a beautiful person because
she had a kind and loyal loving heart.
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After working hard all week, working at her
store, she went home to be a full-time mommy and
wife. This took a lot of time and energy and love
most of all.
She put long hours into her shop, and carefully
bought every item in it, with the utmost thought
and consideration.
There was not a giant clientele that went to
Ebony’s shop, and if they had it would have
changed things in her life, and changed things
altogether.
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Laurel wasn’t quick to notice that tons of people
were not knocking down the door trying to buy
things at Ebony’s store. There were plenty of
people who shopped there, but certainly it takes a
constant, flow of customers to be in the buying
mode for any business to keep it’s door open.
Laurel found herself hoping that Ebony would
get more customers coming into her store, and
after time, she realized that it was important for
these people to pop in more times than not.
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Ebony’s family had a great need for her, and her
sons needed their mother more than they got to be
with her, and so did her husband.
Eventually Ebony was able to spend more time
with her immediate family and baby son.
The seasons changed some more, and Laurel
spent more time at home, and in school. She was
doing her studies and busy with her life in
Topanga. The trips to visit Ebony’s store came to
an end as Ebony decided it took too much money
to keep her store open and it was draining her
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pocket and time without paying back proper dues
for all the time involved.
Then there were no more visits to see Ebony or
visit her family deep in Los Angeles. However
Laurel did get an opportunity rarely extended to
other’s with the rich experience of meeting Ebony
and exploring her store, her life, and sharing it
with her in the many days, weeks, hours, and
nights she spent with her.
Long after Laurel had last seen Ebony, she
remained in Laurel’s heart, as a kind and
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generous lady who stepped out into the business
world to make a success of herself and family.
Though she may not have made a fortune, she did
make lasting friends of the heart, and shared life’s
walk together with Laurel’s family. Both families
were better for the experience of knowing each
other.
Laurel loves to talk about Ebony and her shop
and family whenever they come to her mind,
which is plenty of times now and again, and always
will be cherished memories.
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Chapter Nineteen
Mamasita
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Mama was on an errand and she took Laurel
with her. Laurel and John were Mama’s
children. Laurel was ten and John was twelve.
Laurel and John loved to go places with Mama
because they loved her very much, but John
began to like staying home because he was older,
and this day he stayed home. Laurel was like a
wisp next to her bigger than life Mama. Laurel
just went where Mama went because she loved
her Mama very much. Laurel’s Mama was also
her friend and together they did many fun things
together. Mama began to talk to Laurel like she
would if Laurel had been much older. Laurel

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knew how nice it was to be treated with love and
respect by her Mama. Mama was always Mama,
but she let Laurel mother her too, and Laurel felt
that it was her job to protect her Mama from
anything that should not be good for her. Laurel
was a little mother already.
Mama and Laurel got into the late model VW
Bus with forest green color and a white pop-up
top, buckled up their seatbelts, and took off out of
Oakwood Drive (also known as Pumpkin
Hollow). Mama drove towards the coast then
headed into the Venice area just south of Santa
Monica in southern California. Mama found

413
where she was looking for, a government office,
with a nondescript front window. Laurel wasn’t
sure what Mama was about to do, so Laurel was
often surprised by her experiences she met, as
Mama led the way. At first things seemed
unusual to Laurel and she didn’t know what to
think about the adults mulling about at their
various jobs in the office. There did not seem to
be as much as a glimmer of a smile on any of the
faces Laurel looked at, everyone seemed to be
strictly business around here, this was not
Laurel’s cup of tea. Laurel was getting
uninterested rapidly in this stuffy old office

414
where people were so solemn everywhere she
glanced. Suddenly all Laurel wanted to do was to
leave this place far behind with her Mama.
Laurel did not like this place one bit.
Mama led Laurel past groups of people as she
inquired after a particular form of assistance.
Laurel wasn’t sure what Mama was after here,
she just followed her Mama, and with questions
in her eyes she wondered what was going on and
what would be happening here today.
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Laurel could tell that Mama was not having the
greatest time in the world here either, yet Mama
continued on, patiently waiting for further
direction before she moved to another person’s
desk and yet another person too. Had an hour
gone by already as they moved from desk to desk
waiting to meet the right person whom Mama
was trying to meet? Then we turned a corner, we
were tired and fatigued by the late afternoon
dreariness of the day, and the sun was filtering in
through the long windows as though it was tired
too…then we saw her before us. She was a
powerhouse of a woman, the only person in the

417
whole place who seemed to know what was going
on. From this day forth Laurel would only know
this person by the only name she ever called her,
“Mamasita!” Mamasita means ‘little mama’ and
she had a powerful presence lit from within with
the light of God; she was lit up like a candle and
she burned as brightly as any haloed angel in
heaven right in front of our eyes. Her sweet dark
chocolate and light chocolate tones seemed to
shimmer off her like rays of light. She looked
well beyond her clear spectacles into the very
heart and soul of a body. She was beautiful and
wise, and she knew she was needed very much by

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this mother and child that stood before her. God
bless her heart, saint that she was, for showing
them love and friendship and help.
Mamasita was ageless when Laurel met her with
Mama. Mamasita was not young but she wasn’t
old either. Mama inquired of Mamasita if she
was the right person to talk to today about the
matters Mama had at hand to discuss with her.
Mamasita was warm and friendly, just what
Mama and Laurel needed, a friendly face in a
mass of humanity. Mamasita helped Mama and
Laurel in numerous ways and made sure they left
the office in a better state than they had arrived.

419
She sent them home with aid and hope that life
was going to be a bit brighter for them, and her
warm, friendly, genuine and loving smile
confirmed that her words and actions were
sincere and heartfelt. Mama and Laurel went
home feeling the love and compassion of this lone,
single, woman with a very big heart and wisdom
in her eyes.
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Laurel loved the fact that Mamasita was now a
fixture of her life, Mamasita had become a friend
to Mama and Laurel and their family. Mamasita
in Laurel’s life made it more bearable since her
Mama and Papa did not live with or love one
another as they once had. Little by little Laurel’s
family life had fallen to pieces, impending divorce
and a new life for her and John, seemed
inevitable. Mamasita was there, she loved Mama
and her children John and Laurel, and Mamasita
wanted to make a positive difference in their
lives, and she did.
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It seemed that all that spring, summer, and
autumn, were filled with a life that included
Mamasita. As the seasons changed and blended
and moved like a kaleidoscope the relationship of
Mamasita, Mama and Laurel, changed as well.
For one thing, Mama and Laurel became multi-
weekly visitors at Mamasita’s home, and they
stayed for hours at a time. Mama would take
Mamasita out on her errands and help her do her
errands. Mama and Laurel would sit with
Mamasita and sip tea and share stories about
their lives from their hearts. Mamasita would
introduce various children of hers that would

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come and go during the visits, always so proud of
her kids, Laurel could actually see Mamasita’s
chest puff up with pride when she spoke about or
introduced one of her many children. Mamasita
had birthed at least 19 children. She never saw
enough of them though because they were so busy
living their lives. Laurel could swear she saw a
tear or two slip out from beneath Mamasita’s
eyes once when she was missing her children.
Mama and Laurel made sure that Mamasita was
not lonely the best ways they could. Time went
on and it was already Thanksgiving. The golden
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autumn blew away in the Santa Ana winds and
the rest of the leaves turned brown and dropped
restlessly to the ground.
John and Laurel played outside for a while on
this cold, foggy, and drizzly day and waited to see
if their Papa would come home and spend
Thanksgiving dinner with them. They looked
into the warm fogged out windows of the kitchen
where Mama was making Thanksgiving dinner
with turkey and fixings of stuffing with raisins
and spices. John and Laurel got tired of waiting
outside so they went indoors and up to their room
where some wonderful holiday shows were on.

425
They watched ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Alice in
Wonderland.’ Then they went downstairs into
the kitchen to see how dinner was coming along.
Mama had waited for Papa to come but he
didn’t, so she ladled the hot freshly baked turkey
and stuffing onto everyone’s plate, along with
some sugar oozing yams that were steaming hot.
They said a prayer and began to eat, but they
didn’t talk a whole lot, Papa hadn’t come and
nobody wanted to mention it because it meant
different things to the kids and their mother.
Then the day went on quietly as John and
Laurel did their chores before they got ready for

426
bed. Papa was coming around less and less, but
John and Laurel still got to see him on Fridays,
when he’d come by after school and take them to
his mother’s house. Laurel and John called
Papa’s mother Nana. Nana had not done much
to help make Papa and Mama’s marriage endure,
she didn’t think anyone was good enough for her
son John M. Finally after enduring years of
Italian jokes at her expense, Mama had said to all
the relatives gathered on Friday at dinner, that
she’d had enough of the Jokes. Enough meant
enough, and that was the end of Mama going to
dinner on Friday nights at Nana and Pop’s house.

427
Mamasita was busy working little miracles
everywhere she went, and she gathered this and
that and different things here and there until she
was completely satisfied with her work.
Mamasita called Mama to come and get the
special things she had gotten for Mama’s
children. The bags Mamasita gave to Mama
were very large and filled with nice things to
make Christmas special and beautiful. Mama
proudly brought in the bags of good things when
John and Laurel were not paying any attention to
what she was about. She was very successful, and
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nobody saw her put the things away quietly until
Christmas morning.
Christmas was always lovely at home, the
Christmas tree was a real pine tree, decorated by
Mama, John and Laurel. They made it as
beautiful as possible and even though there
hadn’t been almost anything under the tree, it
had looked as lovely as could be with brightly
colored lights on every branch and loops of
construction paper decorations John and Laurel
had made lacing the edges with bright colors of
red, green, blue, yellow and purple.
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Christmas morning finally came and there
beneath the beautiful Christmas tree were
Christmas presents that were for John and
Laurel, lots and lots and lots of beautiful lovingly
wrapped gifts…and they instinctively knew that
these presents had come from their Mamasita!
Sure enough they had. Mamasita left no one
disappointed, no sir, not John and Laurel
anyway. Was John or Laurel’s eyes wider in
surprise, who could tell, because they were both
astonished that Mamasita had done so much and
thought out so well her wondrous Christmas
ideas. Laurel had a very big present that took

430
her a while to unwrap, and it was a beautiful
bright red, thick and warm corduroy jacket, with
white faux fur trim around the collar and long
cuffs. Laurel didn’t see what John got because
she was wrapping herself up in her new warm
cuddly coat. Then there were some jars filled
with hard Christmas candy, raspberry filled
candy and rainbow ribbon candy too. Laurel was
so happy all she could do was look at her family
with glowing eyes filled with joy.
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Laurel had no idea that she would be so
fortunate this Christmas or that anybody had
thought about her as Mamasita had. In the rush
of the happy time at hand Laurel was all the
happier for every hour she had spent at
Mamasita’s house as Mama, Mamasita and
Laurel, shared the many long and languid hours
as the spring days became summer and turned
into autumn and now winter.
Laurel knew when she first saw Mamasita that
she was no ordinary person, not by any means,
and all her words and actions proved Laurel to
be right about her. Laurel knew this woman had

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a good and beautiful heart, soul and mind, yes
she was a beauty through and through. Laurel
lost sight of Mamasita’s color as soon as
Mamasita smiled her first smile at Laurel, and as
time went by, and the months moved along there
was no color to Mamasita other than the warm
color of love Laurel felt for her.
The new year came quickly and time went by.
Mamasita was not doing too well and nobody
could say why. Mama and Laurel continued to
go visiting with Mamasita, and they did their best
to help her tidy up around her home. Things
began to move faster and faster and there

434
appeared no way to stop the clock and reverse the
approach of hardship looming upon them all.
Mamasita, bursting with life and love and
vitality, was tiring too quickly and in much too
much pain. Mama did what she could, she went
to the store and bought whatever Mamasita
needed to make her feel better. Mamasita was
very glad for the love and support Mama and
Laurel showed in their words and their actions to
Mamasita.
Mamasita was not getting better, she was not
mending as she ought to be, no she was not.
Mama was getting desperate to ease the pains

435
going through Mamasita. Mamasita went from
looking ageless to looking very old beyond her
years. Her family was busy, she let them stay
busy, but she needed help too and wasn’t sure
how to ask for it or how to get it if she did…so
she said little or nothing. Then Mamasita was
not able to leave her bed and Mama and Laurel
went to see her every afternoon and stayed late
into the night for a very long time as they reached
out to comfort her and make her suffering less.
Mama asked Mamasita, “What would you like
me to do for you Mamasita? How can I ease your
pain filled body?” Then Mamasita would look at

436
us with her eyes still filled with stars and she’d
say, “Honey, please rub this alcohol into my pain
filled feet and legs.” Mama got the alcohol and
began to rub it into her feet to comfort them.
Mama got some Vaseline and rubbed it into her
feet and legs too. Mamasita was comforted and
felt the loving warm hands of Mama massage her
ever so gently and sweetly hour after hour.
Mama and Laurel didn’t talk about Mamasita’s
bad health, they just did what they could to help
her. Then one day Mama got a telephone call
from one of Mamasita’s children who told her
that Mamasita had died. Mama told Laurel and

437
John about her death, and they were all shocked,
because even though they knew she had been ill
and in pain, they had not anticipated that she
would die. Mama asked Mamasita’s family if she
could go to the funeral to show her respects to
Mamasita. Mamasita’s family said she could
come to the funeral. Mama went to the florist
shop before she went to the funeral, and she
purchased a white gardenia flower that she
brought to the funeral. Mama left Laurel and
John in the VW bus outside as she went into the
funeral parlor for a last visit with Mamasita.
Mama was the only olive toned person in the

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whole gathering¸ but Mama was undaunted, she
moved with the group of mourners saying their
last good-byes to their beloved Mamasita. Mama
got up to where Mamasita was and she gently
held Mamasita’s hand in hers, and she stood
stock still and couldn’t move because when she
held Mamasita’s hand it was warm to her touch.
Mama gently put the white gardenia on the heart
of Mamasita and left when the service was over.
Mama came back to the VW bus where John and
Laurel had waited patiently for her and they
couldn’t believe their eyes when they say Mama.
Mama had a heavenly glow about her personage

439
as she told her children about Mamasita’s warm
hand when she touched it.
Laurel and John knew their Mama was given a
gift that day that helped ease the pain of losing
Mamasita. Mamasita has always been thought of
throughout the decades with loving memorable
thoughts of the good things Mamasita had done
while they knew her. Mamasita had created a
legend in her own time by people who might least
guess the multitude of various reasons.
A year never goes by that Laurel doesn’t tell her
husband and children about her dear and loving
Mamasita, and how all of her kind works and

440
words would forever be a part of the tapestry of
all of their lives. For that is how love is passed
along, with love, and that is all there is to it.
Mamasita, Mama, both of you are in heaven, and
we love you both.
441
442
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MYSTERIES OF
TOPANGA CANYON
POEM
443
444
The mysteries of Topanga continue to grow from
long ago to days right now
To know the life and ways of the canyon is only the
beginning in mystery solving within the
Mighty Canyon
The old oaks, pines, shrubs and other greenery are
important to this place of serenity
Ocean breezes that flow seamlessly up into the
canyon from the sea
This is one of the lovely little mysteries
445
Little things like hopping frogs and tadpoles
Bright butterflies that flutter by
Water skimmers that walk on shallow pools
Little things all around up and down everywhere you
look
These are only some of the millions of mysteries in
Topanga
Everywhere you look
Mysteries Abound!
446
447
448
Return to the Valley
Dad drove John and Laurel home and it was very quiet
all the way back up to Topanga Canyon. Dad waited for
John and Laurel to gather their belongings for a long stay
at their long time friend’s home in the San Fernando
Valley.
John was about to be fourteen years old and Laurel was
twelve and a half. Both kids had rich brown hair, almost
a chestnut color, with waves in it. John and Laurel had
blue green eyes as well. Laurel had seldom cut her hair
except for once when she was around six years old.
Laurel generally wore her hair in a ponytail or two
Pony tails, and when she was younger she wore satin or
yarn ribbons with bright colors in her hair.
Dad waited in his lemon drop yellow VW bug outside
their home while John and Laurel packed. They were
busy with school and homework, and had just seen
Mama off again. They were feeling very sad inside their
hearts, they loved their mother very much, and did not
like to see her leave the country for long periods of time.
449
Saying goodbye should have been easy for John and

Laurel, but it wasn’t. A new chapter was unfolding in
front of them, one that would change their lives forever.
This time mom left, it was for the third or fourth time,
and even though it was usual, they never got really used
to having her go away for such long periods of time.
Laurel knew she would be resolute about what was
happening in her life now because this was her life. She
couldn’t tell the grownups how to behave and what to
do, because she was still a kid.
Dad dropped John and Laurel off at their friend’s home,
he didn’t come to the door, or talk to Molly, the mother
of the home either. Laurel and John waved goodbye to
their Dad and watched him drive off.
Molly Pfeiffer’s home in Tarzana was on Sugarman
Street. She was their old neighbor who lived across the
street and south about seven or eight houses down.
Molly lived just before the street curved east towards
Nestle Avenue Elementary School.
Molly had two children who were about John and
Laurel’s ages, and they had been playmates since they
were practically old enough to walk. John liked to play
with Eric and Laurel liked to play with Elise. Eric was a
few years younger than John and Elise was a few years
younger than Laurel. Together they had all spent hours
and days playing Star Trek, and many other games,
450
having great times together and enjoying the company of

one another. Long spring and summer days were spent
in the giant aspen tree in their backyard which became
the fleet star gate bridge from which they commanded
the USS Enterprise among the stars high above earth’s
surface and well into the solar system visiting other
planets and meeting other beings from that domain.
John and Laurel were glad they were going to stay with
people they liked as well as these people. Still, being at
home was best, especially with their family there. It was
hard enough saying goodbye to mom, then they had to
say goodbye to dad. Being down and sad, they didn’t
even ask dad when they would be able to go back home.
Things were so strange that John and Laurel just tried to
feel okay and not like blown around leaves in the wind.
It was well into autumn now, and well into spring where
Mama was in Jamaica. John and Laurel were attending
Parkman Junior High School in Woodland Hills.
It was rather late in autumn, and the Pfeiffer’s were
getting ready for the holidays in their own way. Eric
came up to John and Laurel as they approached the front
door of the house and extended a small silver tin of
sardines out toward John and Laurel, “Hi John! Hi Laurel!
Want to have some sardines?”
John and Laurel looked at Eric and the box of raw
sardines and declined quickly. Eric said, “These are relly
451
good, you should try some, I love them!”

John and Laurel replied, “Hi Eric, how are you? No
thank you on the sardine offer though.”
Eric opened up his sardines on the way into his home
and dived into the tin. John and Laurel trudged into the
living room of Eric’s home loaded down with their
clothes, school books, and miscellaneous things they
thought they might need on their visit with the Pfeiffers.
Molly came out of the kitchen into the living room to
say hello to John and Laurel and gave them a big smile.
She said, “Hi John, hi Laurel, how are you? You kids will
be staying in this room to sleep in while you stay here. I
hope you will be comfortable while you’re visiting us.”
Then Elise came into the living from her bedroom
that she shared with her brother Eric. It was a nice, small
room with bunk beds.
Molly let them settle in and left them to do that while
she went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for five
people. Elise helped set the table, then dinner was done,
they sat down to eat after Molly said a short prayer to
God, the father of Jesus. Dinner was good and nutritious,
and consisted of a French Omelet, made with eggs and
noodles. John and Laurel had eaten this French food
made by Molly before, and they enjoyed it very much.
After dinner Laurel helped to clear the table with Elise
while Eric took out the garbage and fed the cat named
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Tao. Tao was a friendly fluffy gray cat that was about five
years old. Molly had found him and rescued him from a
grocery store nearby. Tao had obviously been
abandoned as a very young cat. Now Tao had the best
loving home he could have dreamed for, all his very own.
Molly loved tropical island things from Hawaii. She had
visited the island when she was younger with her
husband early on in her marriage prior to getting
divorced. Her husband’s name was Ken.
John and Laurel had met Ken one time in their lives, and
would never meet him again.
After dinner John, Eric, Elise, and Laurel had time to visit
and get caught up from where they had left off the last
time they had visited each other. Then it was time for
bed. School was the next day.
To get to school each day while living with the Pfeiffers,
John and Laurel had to get up early, and Molly would
drive them to school after she drove her children to their
schools first. She was a good mother who cared greatly
for her family. Mollie was a single mother who divorced
her husband Ken before Laurel and John had met her.
Laurel got used to the daily pattern of life at Molly’s
home. She got to drive up front with Molly when she
drove John and Laurel to school each morning.
The days melted away, and seemed to go all the same
with cold mornings that made her shiver with cold.
453
Often the late afternoon sun would peek through the fog
if they were lucky. But the cold did not stop. Fortunately
Molly kept her home heated just right, John and Laurel
never had a complaint of her home being too cold or too
hot.
Laurel and John tried to be as polite and sincere to their
host and her children as possible. Every morning Laurel
and John would try to be as thankful and graciously
accept the ride offered to them by Molly.
Laurel made sure to turn and peek into the VW beetle
with a grateful smile, “Thank you very much Molly for the
ride. I hope you have a wonderful day.”
Molly looked back up towards Laurel with a big happy
grin that made her look like she was twenty something
all over again as she replied, “Thank you very much
Laurel. I hope you kids have a wonderful day too.
Goodbye.”
Away she drove in her little blue cloud of a car away
towards her day. Molly was a part time teacher at local
colleges and taught art there. Molly was quite
impressive, smart, and very friendly. Molly is just what
John and Laurel needed right now in their lives. Even
though she wasn’t their mom, she was just about as nice.
This was Laurel’s first year in junior high school and it
was off to a nice but rocky start. The cold fall days were
set in and school was quite miserable with winter not far
454
off. It felt like it may as well be winter now because of

the severe cold and low icy fogs that appeared to never
lift.
Junior high was much different than Topanga
Elementary School from where she graduated last spring.
The little canyon school was nice and surrounded by
countryside. Laurel loved the scenery around her old
school. Parkman was all concrete and brick buildings,
with some classes inside indoor halls, but mostly open to
the outside cold.
After Molly drove away, Laurel trudged up the little
flight of concrete stairs towards the entrance of the
school. She entered the school and made her way to the
warmest and most comfy part of the school, the library
with it’s warm lights and abundance of available chairs.
Laurel mechanically moved towards her favorite books
in the library, US History and Laura Ingalls Wilder book
series, which she had already read about five times each.
Laurel read the books for a good reason. Laurel adored
Laura and the family life she had in the places she lived in
the old west of American history.
The bell always rang just when she was happily
ensconced in a good chapter. Laurel put her book away
and made her way towards her homeroom class. Every
day began pretty much like this one. Laurel never hung
out with her brother John in junior high school, she never
455
bumped into him on the school grounds, but she never

really thought much about it.
The days blended into one another, one cold day after
the other, icy fog and freezing mornings. Molly was nice
to John and Laurel and the winter didn’t seem so bad
because they had nice company to spend it with.
Then the holidays were upon them and Molly made
several batches of Christmas sugar cookies, which she
shared out to everyone a few times each day. The
cookies were some of Laurel’s favorite cookies, they
tasted fantastic, and they never lasted very long.
It did not seem strange to Laurel that she was not
getting to visit her dad, but it was a little unusual. John
and Laurel didn’t get to see much of their Dad anyway
these last few years. It really didn’t matter all that much.
John and Laurel were getting stronger inside, as they got
older they didn’t mind so much if Dad wasn’t around all
the time.
Eventually time that moved further and further into the
future could not be denied any longer. It was without
doubt more than two months now that their mother
Vivian had been in Jamaica. But why didn’t they get a
visit from their dad was hard to tell. It began to feel like
John and Laurel had to grow up faster than they had
wanted to. They tried not to think of Dad or Mama,
because if they did, they would begin to miss them and
456
might cry…which would never do, not when they were in

junior high school. They were too old and big to be
fretting about things they could do nothing about, so
they didn’t.
The opportunity to go out to the movies presented itself
and Molly took them all to the matinee at a theatre on a
nice late afternoon. The next day Molly asked John and
Laurel, “Did your parents give you any money to help
me take care of you?”
The floor suddenly dropped under Laurel and John as
they looked at one another miserably, because they both
knew that neither parent had given them a cent to share
or give to Molly to help her feed and care for them.
Molly’s next words were, “I’m going to have to call John
up and ask him for some money to help feed you kids.”
She picked up the phone and dialed Dad. John and
Laurel listened to her speak from the room next to the
little French kitchen. John and Laurel had not thought of
money at all, they had kept their hearts brave and their
minds off of their Mama and Papa, the best way they
could. Now they felt awkward and it did not feel good to
feel this way.
Molly got off the phone and seemed mollified about her
conversation with John, Laurel and John’s Dad. She came
into the living room and was much happier and relieved
because she was going to get some reimbursement for
457
caring for John and Laurel from their Dad soon. Dad
came by with money for Molly and left without so much
as a hug for John or Laurel, and he was gone once again
into his mysterious life he led without them all.
Dad came to Molly’s home and gave her some money to
help her take care of John and Laurel. Dad did not stay
around, he had to get back to his job, he sped away
quickly. John and Laurel went back into Molly’s house
missing their Dad and Mama.
Christmas was getting closer and holiday decorations
were put up on the street lamps and poles around the
valley, making it look beautiful and festive. Christmas
was one of Laurel’s favorite times of the year. She loved
the holiday very much, all the celebrations, baking,
cookies, turkey, and of course presents that she gave and
received from her family and loved ones.
School went on same old routine day in and day out.
Then Christmas break was upon them and they had
several weeks off from middle school. Then Molly
announced that Vivian was coming home and it was time
to pack up and drive up to Topanga Canyon to bring John
and Laurel back home.
It had now been about two months, or so it seemed to
John and Laurel, who had spent the time away from
home all that time! Mama had never in her entire life, in
all the times she left John and Laurel, been away from
458
them this long.

Molly drove John and Laurel home, leaving Eric and Elise
at home because there was not enough room in the
small pale blue VW bug to carry them all along together.
Molly kept the conversation going in happy chipper
small talk all the way up into the canyon until she
reached their street on Oakwood Drive. She dropped
Laurel and John off at their home and was off to Los
Angeles Airport to get Vivian from the airport to bring
her home in Topanga too.
Laurel and John were glad to get back home in the
canyon they loved so much. They got into their home
and brought their belongings upstairs into their room
and set them down. They wondered when their mother
was going to be home and they were feeling happy about
seeing her soon.
It was not much longer when John and Laurel heard
noises from Molly’s car outside their home. They raced
down the stairs to see Ma. The front door opened as
John and Laurel came to the last steps on the stairs.
Ma’s head peered into the house and her face was
happy and youthful looking. She was only thirty three
years old and beautiful beyond measure. Mama had
brought many presents with her from Jamaica, including
a new stepfather named Brook.
John and Laurel were shocked into silence as they raced
459
back up the stairs full speed and shut the door firmly
behind them. Nobody had told them they were going to
have a new person living with them, and certainly not a
new husband for their mother!
Brook had married Mama in Jamaica, and it took a little
bit longer than she had thought to return to the states
with him because of paperwork and things of that
nature. He was young and strong. Brook was nice and
friendly, cheerful and tried to please John and Laurel. He
worked hard on trying to make a good first impression on
John and Laurel. Brook tried to be friendly by giving John
and Laurel some small transistor radios, straw baskets,
and nice things from Jamaica that he had brought back to
America with Vivian, his new wife. More than anything
they were glad to have their mother back home and life
resuming to a new normal.
John and Laurel were thankful for the gifts given to
them by Brook and mom. They liked the radio and pretty
woven baskets sold for tourists to buy from local crafts
people on the island.
Christmas was upon them and mother and Brook went
to get a tree from the forest and brought it home to
decorate.
Brook had brought small boxes of his beloved but
Christmas ornaments from Jamaica to America with him,
which he cherished. He wanted the Christmas tree to be
460
spectacular, and he did not want any help putting the

tree decorations on the tree whatsoever. He wanted the
tree to remind him of his island Christmas times, and no
decorations other than ones he brought with him were
on the tree. He had already missed his family and life in
Jamaica. Life in America was good but he missed his
family of several brothers and sisters, about eight in all.
Life in Topanga at Christmas time was very special,
everything in the canyon was festive and great for the
holidays. The Christmas tree never had many gifts under
it before Christmas, because Mama said John and Laurel
peeked too often in the past. Mama didn’t chance
ruining the surprise of Christmas ever again after that,
she always hid her presents well away from John and
Laurel, and she did a great job of it too.
Christmas morning arrived, and under the tree were
many beautiful packages wrapped in white tissue paper
with red ribbons. John opened his presents and liked
what he got. He got a boom box and Laurel got a some
beautiful Holly Hobby pillows and craft gifts that she
adored very much.
John and Laurel watched some holiday shows and
helped Mama make Christmas dinner. Mama said a
prayer before they ate. The turkey dinner with cranberry
sauce was delicious. Mama had baked some yams to go
with the potatoes and they were cooked until they were
461
sweet as could be.

Everyone helped tidy up, Laurel washed the dishes and
cleared the table. John fed the cats and dogs and the
chores related to them. John took out the garbage and
changed out the cat litter box.
Christmas was over before they knew it. They had
visited with Dad a few days prior to Christmas, they were
not going to see him today.
The rains began to set in hard and steady on the little
house and against the window panes. The warmth from
the kitchen and indoors made the windows fog up so
that viewing was not easy.
Then it was time for school to resume. John and Laurel
had to get up for school about two hours before school
started so that they could walk the distance of nearly a
mile from home to the bus stop at the American Legion
Hall every day. Come rain or shine the walk was long and
cumbersome with backpacks loaded with books from
school.
Sometimes Mama would drive them to school, and on
the rainy days they loved to get a ride from her. She
would stop at a restaurant called Hobo Joes along
Ventura Boulevard near Taft High School. John, Mama,
and Laurel would share English muffins, hot cocoa, or
toast and pancakes before school. It was nice to sit down
next to Mama and talk to her about life, school, and new
462
things in their lives. Mama was short, she stood about

five feet tall, not much over that, and she was full of love
and energy. The energy Mama had was quite staggering,
she could keep up with John and Laurel at most things
without any trouble at all.
Mama had worked at selling feather jewelry, bead
jewelry, homemade pillows and crafts with much
thoughtfulness and talent. She had incorporated the
help of John and Laurel and together Mama had been
able to travel to Jamaica as often as she did. Mama was
quite a business woman. She was highly admired by her
family and those she met.
Then it was off to school, a long day, and then hop the
school bus and head up the canyon back home. The ride
home was longer and more grueling than ever because
the bus had to drive out to Old Topanga Canyon Road,
then move east toward the valley. The ride home
involved many curves, and gases from the bus that got
into the bus making it easy to get car sick to some degree
or another.
By the time their bus stopped at the American Legion
Hall, and they walked the mile home, the day was all but
over. There was simply not much day left by the time
they got home.
They barely had time to do their homework, chores, eat
dinner, and watch a TV show before it was time to call it
463
a day.
Dad came by every Friday to gather John and Laurel into
his VW bug and drive them out to Los Angeles to visit
Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Eddie, Uncle Tommie, Aunt
Elizabeth, and their cousins Moira and Marina.
Moira and Marina were Aunt Elizabeth and Michael
Kirk’s children who were a few years younger than
Laurel. Both Marina and Moira were nice kids, and John
and Laurel liked playing with them hide and seek, ball in
the backyard, and basketball against the back net on
Nana’s garage door.
Mostly it seemed that all the kids talked and watched
TV after Nana made a roast beef dinner, with mashed
potatoes, gravy, and green peas.
Nana never changed the dinner menu on Fridays unless
it was Christmas or Easter. On Christmas she baked a
turkey with Grandpa’s help, and on Easter she baked a
ham. Nana and Pop’s menu was as predictable as Friday,
or so it seemed that way to Laurel. Laurel loved
grandma’s cooking, every meal, and looked forward to
dinner and company at Nana’s every week.
Laurel had gone to a private school in Malibu called
Cardin Malibu School, and met many new people. The
school was operated by Virginia Armstrong, and Mama
had arranged for Laurel to attend for a full year. Laurel
adored this school, and everything about it, and
464
especially the country setting in the canyon where it sat.

The building was an old fire house with lots of windows.
Laurel could study anything she wanted, with very few
regulations. She could read and do her studies at her
own pace, and it was fantastic for her do live life this
way. Laurel met some remarkable people, including the
one and only daughter of Cary Grant, Jennifer Grant.
Jennifer Grant was very nice and was in Laurel’s class.
The grades were kept together to keep things simpler.
On Jennifer Grant’s tenth birthday, her party was at
school, and Cary Grant showed up with a surprise party
for Jennifer. Cary was driven up to the school in his
Chauffeur driven limousine. Cary got out of the
limousine with his sunglasses on and asked the chauffeur
to help him get the ten or so boxes of different kinds of
pizzas, soft drinks, and birthday cake out of the car and
onto a big table set for the party.
The party was a success, Jennifer was all smiles and
happy that her daddy had come to celebrate her birthday
party that day.
Every student in class thanked Cary Grant and Jennifer
for the surprise party, and then said goodbye to Cary
before he sat back down inside the back of the limousine
and was driven away towards the coast.
Laurel was excited to relay the story to her Mama, Papa,
and brother John about Jennifer’s lovely party, and how
465
nice it was to meet Cary Grant. Cary Grant had been one
of Laurel’s favorite actors, so meeting him that day
meant an extra lot to Laurel.
Laurel got to study and tutor other children in the lower
grades before it was the end of the school year and time
to graduate from the eighth grade at Cardin Elementary
School.
Graduation was fun. There was an evening graduation
ceremony, and party that followed it. Nice music played
and party foods served. It was time to grow forward and
move on to the next stages of life.
Summer came and it was as sweet and nice as ever.
The canyon was always healing. It did get hot, it did get
soaked in heavy rains, and it also got cold as can be
imagined, but it was Laurel’s canyon nevertheless
wherever she was and whatever she did…it belonged to
Laurel to hold dear always.
John and Laurel played more catch and football tossing
almost every day, into the night, with almost no light to
play ball with. They played like the ball was an
instrument of music to be played, back and forth, they
became excellent at the game of throwing the ball. They
liked each other’s company more than ever. But
summer
would not last, the long summer nights with frogs
croaking the whole night through came to an end as the
466
cold of September drew near.

Then school started again. Now John and Laurel were in
school, John in high school and Laurel in her last year of
junior high at Parkman Junior High, where she returned
to school for one last year before she’d graduate in the
spring as a ninth grader.
John and Laurel moved in with Dad, and visited Mama
regularly. Dad and Kristi bought a condominium and
they all moved there. The pool there was nice and Laurel
could invite her friends to the pool now and then.
Laurel’s friend from Vietnam, her name was Hien, loved
to visit at Laurel’s home to visit. Hien had shoulder
length black hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled
quickly and was very nice.
Laurel’s other friends were Erica and Donna, and other
kids as well.
The school year zoomed bye and before long it was
spring, and the play Bye Bye Birdie was in progress.
Laurel was a singer and actor in the play, portraying a
teenager in the production. Laurel’s Dad, brother John,
and Kristi came to see the evening play. The play went
well and it was fun to be at school enjoying herself so
much. It was good to be at the top of her class, a ninth
grader, and not a freshman. Plus it was wonderful to be
graduating from middle school as well, which was coming
up very soon.
467
Dad, Kristi, and John came to Laurel’s graduation at

Parkman Junior High School in the late morning of a very
warm spring day. The ceremony was almost over before
it started, but it was nice, and Laurel graduated with
honors from Sachems because she had done well in her
studies.
Summer was ahead of Laurel and her family. She was
going to attend William Howard Taft High School in the
summer for school, and took biology. She didn’t know
how tough summer school was, but she learned soon
enough. She got a good grade and continued on in her
studies in the fall.
Laurel’s friend Erica came to the same high school, and
they got to visit sometimes, not always. Erica was short
and sturdy, a NAVY girl who fell in love with a ROTC NAVY
boy in no time. She was a serious student and became
even busier than Laurel in her studies. Erica wanted to
study nursing, and since her mother was a nurse already,
it seemed to come natural for her to want to follow in
her mother’s footsteps.
Laurel’s other friend was a year younger than her,
Donna was tall, she was friendly, and quite smart.
Laurel liked all her friends, and they liked each other
too, which made being friends easy and great too.
While Laurel attended her first year of high school, her
Mama got the family home in Topanga ready to sell on
468
the market. Mama and Brook made the canyon home

look beautiful and magnificent beyond imagination.
The pine floors were glowing with polish, and gleamed,
the little home never looked lovelier at any other time
than now when it was for sale.
Mama sold the house soon after it went on the market.
Mama had to look for another home quickly, and she
wanted to live in Oregon. Mama drove up to Oregon
with all of the family pets, two dogs and three young
cats.
The journey was not easy for the pets, and when
they arrived to Gold Beach, one of Laurel’s favorite cats
named Love got lost and was never seen again. Lassie
the collie and Zorba the Sheltie, Papillion and Bigger the
cats made the journey just fine. The entire time Mama
lived in Gold Beach, she would keep an eye out for Love
in case he showed up in some way.
Mama was off searching for the perfect place to settle
with Brook. They were gone for weeks looking for the
right place that they would live.
After Christmas holidays of Laurel’s first year in high
school, Mama and Brook moved to Nesika Beach in
Oregon. They would be busy there making their home
nice, decorate it with new furniture, and improve the
land on the property that sat on a bluff above the great
Pacific Ocean. Now Mama’s living room view was
469
forever until the horizon of the sky where it met the sea.
Mama wrote to John and Laurel and told them how
beautiful her new home was, how wonderful the
property was with the million dollar view…Mama was
very happy at her new home. She wanted one thing, she
wanted to visit her kids who were very far away in
southern California.
Laurel continued with her first year of ninth grade, and
finished up the school year doing as well as she had
hoped to do. Summer was now upon them and Laurel
worked as a voluntary worker at a veterinarian clinic in
Reseda Boulevard, every weekend.
The work was not light, she had to help with the
animals, cats and dogs.
Laurel had thought she might want to be a veterinarian
because she loved animals so much. Veterinary work
was strenuous and a lot of work when there were lots of
animals. After this summer job, Laurel still loved animals,
she just didn’t want to be a veterinarian.
The Fourth of July came and all of Laurel’s family met to
celebrate at Aunt Elizabeth’s house in Hermosa Beach.
Nana and Pop did not come, but all of Laurel’s uncles did
make it to the celebration. Aunt Elizabeth made hot
dogs and hamburgers on an outside grill. It was a nice
get together for the family.
This would be the last family event for Laurel because
470
soon after this, Mama invited her to come for a visit in

Oregon, and Laurel decided to fly up to Oregon to visit
her Mama. John stayed in California, he liked the friends
he had and was busy with them and his new job too.
Laurel flew up to Oregon and stayed there. Oregon has
been Laurel’s home since high school, and Oregon has
been a good home for Laurel. The trees, the sea, the
Cascades are all beautiful jewels of nature that are
precious.
Laurel and her Mama became even better friends from
this point on. Laurel came to be extra loving and
protective of her Mama, as was a natural thing for Laurel
to do regarding her mother.
Many stories would be told of life in Oregon after Laurel
moved in with her Mama on the Oregon coast in the
summer of 1978. Oregon had worked it’s wonders to
restore, renew, and replenish as only Oregon can.
471
OTHER BOOK TITLES BY
LAUREL MARIE SOBOL
472
473
Two Wandering Albatrosses Make a Difference in

the World softcover amazon.com ISBN/EAN13:
1463715080 / 9781463715083
Two Wandering Albatrosses Make a Difference in

the World~ fiction with lots of nonfictional data;
Kindle e-book http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-
Albatrosses-Make-Difference-
World/dp/1463715080/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=digital-
text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318114642&sr=1-1-catcorr
19 species of albatross are on the verge of

extinction primarily from human activities, read this
incredible story, fly with these iconic birds and learn
why they have become on the edge of glory
Mysteries of Topanga Canyon~ nonfiction

California natural history and biography;
474
amazon.com, kindle e-book ASIN: B005IURDCU

This book is filled with wonderful stories that touch
the heart, fill the soul, and let creativity soar!
Two Polar Bears Travel the World in Global

Warming
ISBN/EAN13:
1466252065 / 9781466252066
216 Pages, 8”x 9” Full Color
Two Polar Bears Travel the World in Global

Warming Kindle e-book
laurelsobol youtube channel is filled with fine art

museums and animations for all genres
Sleepy Time in the Big Woods~ Fiction Fantasy

about a young fawn who finds it difficult to fall
475
asleep in the beauty of day, so his mother weaves

several creative stories to help her fall asleep.
LAUREL MARIE SOBOL ARTIST, WRITER,

AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRESS Copyright
http://laurelmariesobol.blogspot.com/
laurelmariesobol.com
476
LAUREL MARIE SOBOL
Laurel has dedicated her life to making the

world a better place and has chosen the gifts God
has given her to share with the world. Her love of
God, family, and God’s creation have been upper
most in her thoughts for decades. She creates
every painting and work of literature with the
same passion filled spirit of one someone would
expect who walks close with the Lord. This is
477
Laurel’ story, It is that simple. Laurel paints with

whirling, vibrant, changing rainbows of color on
her canvas and through her words in books and
stories.
She brings all of her artistic knowledge base and
excellence into each and every single piece, be it a
painting or a book, and she flies with the wind of
the Lord guiding her path. Laurel has studied the
most famous artists of all time and is
appropriately thankful for those people who have
come forth and said to her that, “Your paintings
look like a Van Gogh or Monet!” Laurel
appreciates what these critics see and say about
her art.
Laurel takes no shortcuts to minimalize any
painting or book she’s written. These are the
things that separate Laurel from some other
artists. Though Laurel hopes many artists who
already do share many of the elements she
incorporates in her arts will be increasingly
generated in other artists globally.
Laurel recognizes that ‘Art Talks,’ is a very real
universal language touching hearts and souls of
478
creation worldwide. ‘Art Talks’ is art primarily

painted or written art forms that inspire humans
to love God, Mother Earth, God’s creation, and
humanity~ bringing all to the table to talk about
peace and love among mankind for one another
and the earth. A peaceful, loving world, can’t
refuse to care for the earth and it’s wellness,
productivity, sustainability, and leaving much of
worlds glorious and wonderful places in their
natural beauty way always\ No GMO,
CHEMTRAILS, TTA’S TESLA TECHNOLOG
ARRAYS, H.A.A.R.P.
479
480

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Mysteries of Topanga Canyon Heirloom Extravaganza By Laurel Marie Sobol

Mysteries of Topanga Canyon

By Laurel Marie Sobol

This book belongs to:

Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon

Topanga Canyon is filled with mysterious caves,

hidden parks difficult to get to, drastic mysteries

of what seems like sudden and horrible forest

fires and floods, as well as quaint little mysteries

of nature like old tortoises and skimmers and

other critters to be seen in their nooks and

Canyon life is wild and wonderful all at the

same time. It is the life for the brave and

adventuresome not the meek and weak hearted.

Laurel spent almost seven years in the canyon

with her older brother John, Mama, and Dad

along with their many dogs and cats.

Laurel shares many of the mysteries she

experienced while living in one of the most

beautiful places on earth. Come away to Topanga

Canyon and share the joy and mysteries of this

mystical place as Laurel shares Topanga!

God who has given me everything exactly in the

order and events as He’s planned them to be

Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon Heirloom

CHAPTER ONE~ TOPANGA CANYON

CHAPTER TWO~ HOME SWEET HOME 37

CHAPTER THREE~ THE FAMILY VACAT 63

CHAPTER FIVE~ THE CAVES 101

CHAPTER SIX~ NATIVE SPIRITS 118

CHAPTER SEVEN~ THE EARTHQUAKE! 140

CHAPTER EIGHT~FANCY FEATHERS

CHAPTER NINE~ EVACIATE THE FIRE! 185

CHAPTER TEN~ THE FLOODS 201

CHAPTER ELEVEN~ COUNTRY DAYS

CHAPTER TWELVE~ COUNTRY HORSE RIDES

CHAPTER THIRTEEN~ THE MYSTERY

CHAPTER FOURTEEN~ LAUREL

CHAPTER FIFTEEN~ JOHN AND

CHAPTER SIXTEEN~ CAMPING OUT 318

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN~ EBONY 340

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN~ MAMASITA 359

Mysteries Of Topanga Canyon

Topanga Canyon is filled with mysterious caves,

hidden parks difficult to get to, drastic mysteries

of what seems like sudden and horrible forest

fires and floods, as well as quaint little mysteries

of nature like old tortoises and skimmers and

other critters to be seen in their nooks and

Canyon life is wild and wonderful all at the

same time. It is the life for the brave and

adventuresome not the meek and weak hearted.

Laurel spent almost seven years in the canyon

with her older brother John, Mama, and Dad

along with their many dogs and cats.

Laurel shares many of the mysteries she

experienced while living in one of the most

beautiful places on earth. Come away to Topanga

Canyon and share the joy and mysteries of this

mystical place as Laurel shares Topanga!

God who has given me everything exactly in the

order and events as He’s planned them to be

Topanga Canyon sits nestled quietly in the

mountain range between the Pacific Ocean and