Category Archives: California

DOWN THE COAST By Peter Nolan Smith

January 24, 2012 – 6:20 am

Skyline Drive crested the steep bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the bright California sun crowned the hills with a golden nimbus. Hundreds of identical houses snaked up the streets of Daly City and trails of smoke floated from countless backyards, as suburban families celebrated Memorial Day with barbecues. A seared hamburger would have tasted [...]

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HIPPIE BEACH BUMS by Peter Nolan Smith

January 15, 2012 – 9:56 am

The night breeze off the Pacific wreathed the coastal towns north of San Diego with a thin mist. The airy moisture clung to the flowers and fruit trees of Encinitas. The June sun seared through the overcast by late morning and the evaporation off the flowers created an intoxicating bouquet of scents unknown to the [...]

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TOO LATE FOR THE HAIGHT by Peter Nolan Smith

January 11, 2012 – 3:48 am

The bus from Sacramento crossed the Bay Bridge in light traffic. Most everyone in the Bay Area had off Memorial Day. The uniformed driver took the first exit to the Transbay Terminal and parked in the depot. I grabbed my bag from the storage compartment underneath the bus and entered the station. Holiday passengers were [...]

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Wheels Of Fire

November 3, 2011 – 10:28 am

In the late summer of 1971 my college friend Paul Deseret and I were hitchhiking to the West Coast. We had friends living in the Haight. They were girls. I had had sex with one of them. Sleeping with Marilyn again was enough of a reason to cross a continent. She was an adventure. Both [...]

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LA Without Cars

July 18, 2011 – 12:13 pm

Only losers walk in LA. Pedestrians camouflage their carlessness by carrying keys in their hands to avoid questioning by the LAPD. No car means bad people to the cops of the Southland. Whitey Bulger, the Southie outlaw, didn’t have a car in Santa Monica. He was a bad man. A snitch too. I lived in [...]

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