Today I had a speaking engagement in Torrance. I went in early so I could look around at how things had changed since we moved from there in 1986.
I got off on Artesia and drove past what used to be Gemco, now I don't think it is anything. That parking lot was where our car got broke into and the yellow blanket with deers on it that I have made for Marky got stolen- that's all they took! Then past the Church which looks good.
I went on to Haas Street and the street looks pretty much the same except...our old house seems so small! They have put brick up where the tree used to be and brick work on the column that used to go to the front door. I also noticed that an oriental man was living in Uncle Bob's house now.
I went around the corner to Van Ness and up to see Lincoln Elementary Lions. I was surprised to see the old dairy is still there (totally shut up). Lincoln was the same as I drove into the parking lot, but something looked crowded. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I think they have put building up where you used to walk onto the playground, now you can't see the playground from the parking lot anymore.
Next, I drove Artesia over to Crenshaw. Left on Crenshaw and down the street I got a red light ticket on. I forgot the refinery spanned across Crenshaw. Lot's of new businesses. The Ralph Grocery store is still there at Artesia and Crenshaw.
I turned right on Torrence Blvd and over to the Civic Center and Library. I was surprised at how many 'white' people were there. It was a good group of about 60 and I think they liked my talk. I talked of: Analyze and Organize: They key to further research. They had state of the art equipment and I didn't even have to use my own projector. I was impressed.
On the way home I went over to Hawthorne looking for a gas station to fill up at and found a 76 station. While I pumped gas, they had a live, flat screen TV playing on top of the pump. I was again impressed.
Bottom line: Torrance is still a pretty nice place. Just not nice enough for me to live in.
4 comments:
I was surprised by the TV's at the pump last time I was down there, too. I thought, "Only in LA..."
I had a fun idea for a service project. I was overhearing all the senior missionaries at the institute talking about needing to write down their life story but never getting around to it. I love listening to old people tell their stories so I thought it would be fun to pair up YSA's with retired people and just have them talk. But use a digital recorder to record the stories they tell. Then the YSA can help organize the stories and write it down. I thought sort of an interview style would make it less daunting of a task. Plus, who wouldn't kill for a voice recording of their grandparents!
Ah the memories. I was just thinking of that tree the other day. Shame its now bricks.
I dont remember a lot of those places - just the ones between the house and Lincoln. Was Eddies Market still there?
I forgot to say that Eddie's market was still there and looks exactly the same! Some things never change
Post a Comment