And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
In the 1950s when I was a kid my parents repeatedly took me and my 2 brothers from Calgary Canada to Costa Mesa California to visit old friends. We went the "Desert Route" in a 1957 VW Beetle with 2 luggage racks and the back seat torn apart to become a kiddy bed.
We 3 brothers hated the whole thing especially the baking heat of driving through the desert with no air conditioning. We could only be bribed to quit whining with lots of ice cold cans of a pop or soda, or whatever it's called in your part of the world.
I recall that our absolute favourite was called "Shasta" with the slogan of "It hasta be Shasta". Is my memory correct? Does it still exist? Was it any god or was that just a bunch of sugar hungry kids?
I think of those trips every time you mention Shasta.
In Costa Mesa the son of our host, "Frankie", introduced us to the fine sport of shooting olives at each other and passers-by with slingshots.
My dad had built a house in Costa Mesa just prior to my birth in' 51 and can remember the small stables that housed horses in our neighborhood (my grandfather also raised quarter horses in Orange). That atmosphere is long gone. I left Orange County decades ago and have left Cali altogether but still enjoy my family sprinkled throughout the state. What a magnificent place to be growing up. Lived in homes that were always adjacent to orange groves, then turned into tracts of homes within a few years.
In the 1950s when I was a kid my parents repeatedly took me and my 2 brothers from Calgary Canada to Costa Mesa California to visit old friends. We went the "Desert Route" in a 1957 VW Beetle with 2 luggage racks and the back seat torn apart to become a kiddy bed.
ReplyDeleteWe 3 brothers hated the whole thing especially the baking heat of driving through the desert with no air conditioning. We could only be bribed to quit whining with lots of ice cold cans of a pop or soda, or whatever it's called in your part of the world.
I recall that our absolute favourite was called "Shasta" with the slogan of "It hasta be Shasta". Is my memory correct? Does it still exist? Was it any god or was that just a bunch of sugar hungry kids?
I think of those trips every time you mention Shasta.
In Costa Mesa the son of our host, "Frankie", introduced us to the fine sport of shooting olives at each other and passers-by with slingshots.
Good times.
Yes, it still exists.
Deletehttps://www.shastapop.com/history/
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see where you can buy it.
Creme Soda was always my favorite as a kid.
Wow, that’s some trip. Truck’en down US 395 back in the 50’s must have been a hoot.
DeleteMy dad had built a house in Costa Mesa just prior to my birth in' 51 and can remember the small stables that housed horses in our neighborhood (my grandfather also raised quarter horses in Orange). That atmosphere is long gone. I left Orange County decades ago and have left Cali altogether but still enjoy my family sprinkled throughout the state. What a magnificent place to be growing up. Lived in homes that were always adjacent to orange groves, then turned into tracts of homes within a few years.
DeleteYou're describing my childhood in Corona, CA.
DeleteWhat an unbelievable treat to be there in person.
ReplyDeleteAlso excellent to be there by your photo; my eternal thanks.
Wonderful scene.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo. Are you the photographer?
DeleteThis one isn't mine, although I do have a few good ones I've taken over the years.
DeleteStill a little snow in the Olympic mountains too.
ReplyDeleteYou can see where its erupted previously. Kind of makes it even more amazing. Any predictions if its gonna erupt?
ReplyDelete