Email Signup
Advanced
Search
Home
Contributors
Amy Weisberg, M.Ed.
Annemarie Donkin
Flavia Potenza
Joel Bellman
Kait Leonard
Kathie Gibboney
Linda Ballou
Paula Labrot
The Canyon Chronicle
By Topic
NEWS
Latest News
Features
OUT & ABOUT
Schools
Science
Health
Passages
All things connected
WORSHIP SERVICES
SHOUTING OUT LOUD
OPINION
Columnists
Letters
Featured
Commentary
EVENTS
Thinking Out Loud
DOG DAYS
ELECTIONS
SPOTLIGHT
ENVIRONMENT
Fires
Featured
Thanks Giving
Covid diary
GOVERNMENT AT WORK
WOMEN TAKING CHARGE IN CHANGING TIMES
ARTS
Featured
Books
Movies
Music
Photography
Poetry
Pop Culture
Theatre & Dance
LIFESTYLE
Astrology
Pandemic
Travel
Topanga historical society
AKUMAL DIARY
Featured
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
CALENDAR
OBITUARIES
BE WATER WISE
Butterfly Day
COMMUNITY
ECO-LIVING
EVENTS
FIRST PERSON
HOLY DAYS OF RENEWAL
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
SOUL & COFFEE
TO LOVE AND BE LOVED
TOPANGA BEFORE TODAY
TOPANGA DAYS
Topanga Days 2022
TRENDING
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
ARCHIVE
May 26, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ARTS
LIFESTYLE
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
COFFEE & SOUL
OPINION
MAY-JUNE EVENTS
May 12, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
LIFESTYLE
MAY EVENTS
April 28, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
POETRY
OUT & ABOUT
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
APRIL-MAY EVENTS
April 14, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
POETRY IN THE NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
OUT & ABOUT
THE USEFUL HERB
SOUL & COFFEE
APRIL-MAY EVENTS
March 31, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OUT & ABOUT
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
SCIENCE
REAL ESTATE
APRIL EVENTS
March 17, 2023
NEWS
THINKING OUT LOUD
LETTERS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
ARTS
OUT & ABOUT
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
SOUL & COFFEE
SPRING EVENTS
March 3, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Out & About
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
Environment
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
MARCH Events
February 17, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SOUL & COFFEE
LETTERS
OUT & ABOUT
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
EDUCATION
FEBRUARY EVENTS
February 2, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
LIFESTYLE
Schoolhouse Scoop
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
February Events
January 20, 2023
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LONG DISTANCE RETIREMENT PARTY
Out & About
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS
December 23, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ARTS
OUT & ABOUT
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
December 9, 2022
NEWS
THINKING OUT LOUD
WOMEN’S HEALTH
THE READABLE FEAST
OUT & ABOUT
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS
November 25, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LIFESTYLE
ARTS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
November 11, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
WINTER EVENTS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
LIFESTYLE
October 28, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEW
LETTERS
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
MID-TERM ELECTIONS 2022
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
NOVEMBER EVENTS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
PASSAGES
October 14, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OCTOBER EVENTS
ELECTIONS
TRAVEL
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
PASSAGES
September 30, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OCTOBER EVENTS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
September 16, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
LETTERS
OPINION
HIGH HOLIDAYS
ARTS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
September Events
September 2, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LETTERS
LIFESTYLE
ELECTIONS
DOG DAYS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
OPINION
September Events
August 19, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LIFESTYLE
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ENVIRONMENT
BUTTERFLY DAY
DOG DAYS 2022
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
ASTROLOGY
August 5, 2022
THINKING OUT LOUD
ARTS
NEWS
LETTERS
A Topanga Memorial
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
DOG DAYS 2022
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
TRAVEL
>> View More <<
Marketplace
Advertisers
Contact Us
Contact Us
Email Signup
Terms of Use
SHIPPING
RETURNS & EXCHANGES
TERMS & CONDITIONS
PRIVACY POLICY
The Canyon Chronicle
1372 Old Topanga Canyon Rd
Topanga, CA 90290
Tel
1-310-460-9786
Email
info@thecanyonchronicle.com
Home
Contributors
Amy Weisberg, M.Ed.
Annemarie Donkin
Flavia Potenza
Joel Bellman
Kait Leonard
Kathie Gibboney
Linda Ballou
Paula Labrot
The Canyon Chronicle
By Topic
NEWS
›
Latest News
Features
OUT & ABOUT
Schools
Science
Health
Passages
All things connected
WORSHIP SERVICES
SHOUTING OUT LOUD
OPINION
›
Columnists
Letters
Featured
Commentary
EVENTS
Thinking Out Loud
DOG DAYS
ELECTIONS
SPOTLIGHT
ENVIRONMENT
›
Fires
Featured
Thanks Giving
Covid diary
GOVERNMENT AT WORK
WOMEN TAKING CHARGE IN CHANGING TIMES
ARTS
›
Featured
Books
Movies
Music
Photography
Poetry
Pop Culture
Theatre & Dance
LIFESTYLE
›
Astrology
Pandemic
Travel
Topanga historical society
AKUMAL DIARY
Featured
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
CALENDAR
OBITUARIES
BE WATER WISE
Butterfly Day
COMMUNITY
ECO-LIVING
EVENTS
FIRST PERSON
HOLY DAYS OF RENEWAL
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
SOUL & COFFEE
TO LOVE AND BE LOVED
TOPANGA BEFORE TODAY
TOPANGA DAYS
Topanga Days 2022
TRENDING
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
ARCHIVE
May 26, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ARTS
LIFESTYLE
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
COFFEE & SOUL
OPINION
MAY-JUNE EVENTS
May 12, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
LIFESTYLE
MAY EVENTS
April 28, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
POETRY
OUT & ABOUT
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
APRIL-MAY EVENTS
April 14, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
POETRY IN THE NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
OUT & ABOUT
THE USEFUL HERB
SOUL & COFFEE
APRIL-MAY EVENTS
March 31, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OUT & ABOUT
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
SCIENCE
REAL ESTATE
APRIL EVENTS
March 17, 2023
›
NEWS
THINKING OUT LOUD
LETTERS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
ARTS
OUT & ABOUT
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
SOUL & COFFEE
SPRING EVENTS
March 3, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Out & About
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
Environment
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
MARCH Events
February 17, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SOUL & COFFEE
LETTERS
OUT & ABOUT
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
EDUCATION
FEBRUARY EVENTS
February 2, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
LIFESTYLE
Schoolhouse Scoop
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
February Events
January 20, 2023
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LONG DISTANCE RETIREMENT PARTY
Out & About
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS
December 23, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
ARTS
OUT & ABOUT
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
December 9, 2022
›
NEWS
THINKING OUT LOUD
WOMEN’S HEALTH
THE READABLE FEAST
OUT & ABOUT
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS
November 25, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LIFESTYLE
ARTS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
November 11, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
WINTER EVENTS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
LIFESTYLE
October 28, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEW
LETTERS
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
MID-TERM ELECTIONS 2022
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
NOVEMBER EVENTS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
PASSAGES
October 14, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OCTOBER EVENTS
ELECTIONS
TRAVEL
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
PASSAGES
September 30, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
OCTOBER EVENTS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ASTROLOGY
September 16, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
LETTERS
OPINION
HIGH HOLIDAYS
ARTS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
September Events
September 2, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
SCHOOLHOUSE SCOOP
LETTERS
LIFESTYLE
ELECTIONS
DOG DAYS
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
OPINION
September Events
August 19, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
NEWS
LIFESTYLE
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
ENVIRONMENT
BUTTERFLY DAY
DOG DAYS 2022
MY CORNER OF THE CANYON
ASTROLOGY
August 5, 2022
›
THINKING OUT LOUD
ARTS
NEWS
LETTERS
A Topanga Memorial
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
DOG DAYS 2022
LONG DISTANCE LISTENING PARTY
ALL THINGS CONNECTED
TRAVEL
>> View More <<
Marketplace
Advertisers
Contact Us
Flavia Potenza
Content
(View All)
Movies
Photography
Poetry
RUDE INTERRUPTIONS
Theatre & Dance
Thinking Out Loud
COMMUNITY NEWS
EDITORIAL
Fires
Latest News
NEWS
SHOUTING OUT LOUD
Thinking out loud
Books
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
Features
Letters
EDITORIAL
NEWS FEATURE
Commentary
EDITORIAL
Passages
Schools
Topanga historical society
Health
Passages
ELECTIONS
SPOTLIGHT
WOMEN TAKING CHARGE IN CHANGING TIMES
Contributors
Amy Weisberg, M.Ed.
Annemarie Donkin
Flavia Potenza
Joel Bellman
Kait Leonard
Kathie Gibboney
Linda Ballou
Paula Labrot
The Canyon Chronicle
Flavia Potenza
Contributors
|
Flavia Potenza
There are no products to list in this category.
But, Seriously...
But, Seriously...
The staff of The Canyon Chronicle are no fools.
Well maybe we are... once in a while. Like today, April 1, 2022. We do like to have fun, but we ta...
Read more
The Canyon Chronicle. Why Now?
The Canyon Chronicle. Why Now?
June 17 2020 - When the Topanga Messenger was conceived and born in 1976, we were a mix of wannabe hippies and solid citizens, who said, “Hey, this ...
Read more
Gallery Surpasses Expectations
Gallery Surpasses Expectations
On October 23, the opening reception at the Topanga Canyon Gallery and its show, “When Pigs Fly,” was a delightful surprise to behold in its new ...
Read more
R.I.P. Tony Morris
R.I.P. Tony Morris
By Flavia Potenza
We, at the Canyon Chronicle mourn, along with many others in the canyon, whether we knew him well or superficially, the passing of Tony Morris. We hav...
Read more
The Many Gifts of…
The Many Gifts of…
Sometimes production week comes easily and sometimes it doesn’t.
When it doesn’t and the Muse has gone on vacation and nothing springs to mind ...
Read more
The Many Gifts of Gio
The Many Gifts of Gio
Eight-year-old Gio opened his art exhibit at Artists Matter Gallery in the Topanga Creek Courtyard to a Cinco de Mayo celebration featuring the electr...
Read more
World Premiere of ‘The Last, Best Small Town’ is World Class Theater
World Premiere of ‘The Last, Best Small Town’ is World Class Theater
Opening night at Theatricum Botanicum of
The Last, Best Small Town
by Latinx playwright John Guerra introduces us to a pair of neighboring fami...
Read more
A Lot of Existential ‘Whys’A Lot of Existential ‘Whys’
A Lot of Existential ‘Whys’A Lot of Existential ‘Whys’
Americans killing Americans? Mass murder in our streets? Children gunned down in schools? Unbridled hate spewing forth on every line of communication ...
Read more
Everyday Hugs
Everyday Hugs
What people yearn for the most in this extended lockdown, they say, are hugs, so here are some Everyday Hugs that might prompt you to find your own.
...
Read more
Topanga Whimsy for the Holidays and Every Day
Topanga Whimsy for the Holidays and Every Day
Compiled by Flavia Potenza
No one ever said Topangans don’t have a sense of humor. Much of it manifests in surprisingly whimsical ways where you can’t help but smile and won...
Read more
Zoe Mack Invited to Train at Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow
Zoe Mack Invited to Train at Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow
By Flavia Potenza
When COVID-19 closed down the Westside School of Ballet where 16-year-old Zoe Mack had been training since she was seven, she switched to the Russian ...
Read more
Can’t Help but Smile
Can’t Help but Smile
This may be one of the happiest issues of The Canyon Chronicle with events popping up like popcorn in a pot, the pot being, of course, Topanga.
We ...
Read more
Which Way District 3?
Which Way District 3?
With Third District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl opting out of a third term on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, Topanga voters will decide who will be...
Read more
‘Embrace of the Wild’
‘Embrace of the Wild’
A dozen people showed up in the Canyon Sages Room at the Topanga Community Center on May 10 to hear local adventure travel writer Linda Ballou talk ab...
Read more
The Spirit that Drives Us
The Spirit that Drives Us
It’s not just a Topanga thing, but a human calling to step into the breach when times are hard or something is wrong. We, here, probably have more c...
Read more
Ceramic Artist Mervat Elias
Ceramic Artist Mervat Elias
It was a privilege to meet ceramicist Mervat Elias last month and view her exhibit in a modest gallery named Artist Matters in the Topanga Creek Cour...
Read more
Selected Poems 2021, Topanga, California, Part 2, April 16
Selected Poems 2021, Topanga, California, Part 2, April 16
Under the Capsized Boat We Fly
New & Selected Poems by Gail Wronsky | In conversation with Flavia Potenza
Forty years is a milest...
Read more
Spirit Abounds
Spirit Abounds
I’ve been exploring my religious roots of late. The Topanga Christian Fellowship Church is conveniently close, just two miles down the road, and the...
Read more
The Extraordinary Ordinary
The Extraordinary Ordinary
During the lockdown, the Bonnell neighborhood and its delightful denizens have become a microcosmic view of the world as seen through a pandemic-prope...
Read more
The Flying Pig is Back!
The Flying Pig is Back!
In case you didn’t notice—but many people did—Topanga’s iconic flying pig overhanging Topanga Canyon Blvd. in the area of Robinson Road, disap...
Read more
The Greening of Topanga
The Greening of Topanga
Some folks are celebratin’ “the Wearin’ of the Green,” but here in Topanga, Irish or not, we’re all “Livin’ in the Green” with the rai...
Read more
What Women Aren’t talking About... But Should
What Women Aren’t talking About... But Should
Longtime Topanga resident Jane Hammond, Physician Assistant (PA-C) recognized a need in women’s lives and created a solution. NOTE: Adult content re...
Read more
Invisibility
Invisibility
One of the jobs I had when I started to make my way in L.A. was as an “assistant” in one of Hollywood’s literary agencies. Occasionally, I was a...
Read more
Transitions
Transitions
My little guy, Tippy, a Parti Poodle, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday, January 9, after a long bout of metastatic cancer with ugly tumors erupt...
Read more
Equine Leadership Program
Equine Leadership Program
“When a human and a horse enter a journey together, two inner worlds unite and both hearts awaken.” —Sabine Niederberghaus, Founder
S...
Read more
From the Sublime to the Downright Cranky
From the Sublime to the Downright Cranky
SCE’s Undergrounding project that came to a halt in 2015, just as the crossover was about to complete it, is now scheduled to begin in the Topanga T...
Read more
January 2023 Has Been a Kick in the Pants
January 2023 Has Been a Kick in the Pants
Has anyone else had problems easing into 2023? It better get better than this month was. Kathie Gibboney lets us know from her Corner of the Canyon...
Read more
Aurora Behrman, Junior Lifeguard
Aurora Behrman, Junior Lifeguard
Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Junior Lifeguard Program, open to children ages 9 through 17, was founded in 1963, to teach children the basic ...
Read more
‘I’m Not Single, I Have a Dog’
‘I’m Not Single, I Have a Dog’
‘I’m Not Single, I Have a Dog’
By Susan Hartzler
Commentary by Flavia Potenza
Once, marriage was the norm for adults. But ...
Read more
Patricia Colvig—1949-2021
Patricia Colvig—1949-2021
By Flavia Potenza
Patricia Colvig, talented researcher for films and movies, was a big-hearted, fiercely independent, rambunctious, and witty woman with an eye for beau...
Read more
Embrace of the Wild by Linda Ballou
Embrace of the Wild by Linda Ballou
Reviewed by Flavia Potenza
Thank you, Linda Ballou, for “Embrace of the Wild,” and introducing us to the extraordinary equestrian explor...
Read more
Making a List…
Making a List…
Last issue we observed, with reverence, the spirit of the holiday season. Production week rolled around and my list for the lineup was pretty skimpy....
Read more
Roslyn ‘Roz’ Harris—1944-2021
Roslyn ‘Roz’ Harris—1944-2021
With a heavy heart and an overwhelming appreciation for the joy of knowing our beloved friend, devoted mother, loving wife, and trusted sister, we inf...
Read more
It’s Official! The Winter Holidays are Upon Us!
It’s Official! The Winter Holidays are Upon Us!
Nothing could have been more festive than this year’s Sages Holiday Dinner to officially begin the many ways for us to celebrate the season of light...
Read more
‘The Cat That Changed America’ by Tony Lee Moral
‘The Cat That Changed America’ by Tony Lee Moral
Reviewed by Flavia Potenza
The young mountain lion, P22, became a media sensation when he showed up in Griffith Park, an oasis in the middle of urban Los Angeles. As if that wer...
Read more
Cinder Finds A Home
Cinder Finds A Home
The adorable story of Cinder, the kitten whose arrival we published in our “Thinking Out Loud” Halloween montage (“Halloween on Bonnell Drive,...
Read more
Some Guidlines for a Consequential Mid-Term Election Year
Some Guidlines for a Consequential Mid-Term Election Year
This is the year to vote, to do your due diligence of down-ballot candidates and offices you may have never heard of.
The warm-up act is the Calif...
Read more
Fire Storm at Berry Creek
Fire Storm at Berry Creek
Two former Topangans survived the Bear Fire but lost their home. They also “lost a lifetime of stuff,” but not their lives. They are gr...
Read more
Halloween on Bonnell Drive
Halloween on Bonnell Drive
Kris Lilliedahl (left) never thought that he would be on call every two or four hours feeding a newborn kitten, but here he was on Halloween not handi...
Read more
Hugelkultur: Learning to Love Carbon
Hugelkultur: Learning to Love Carbon
By Flavia Potenza
Carbon sequestration in the most sustainable sense of the word. A pile of native soil with four shovels standing like sentinels, flattened cardbo...
Read more
Frogs in a Political Pot of Hot Water
Frogs in a Political Pot of Hot Water
Hey, Mama Frog, look here! This looks like a great place to raise our pollywogs.” “Yes, dear, but look over there. It looks like the neighbors ar...
Read more
Sometimes We are Simply Asked to Endure and Persist
Sometimes We are Simply Asked to Endure and Persist
By Flavia Potenza
As if a greater surge of the pandemic weren’t enough, our erstwhile president, who has abandoned the country for the golf course, is also wreaking h...
Read more
To Every Thing There is a Season
To Every Thing There is a Season
...A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted… (Ecclesiastes 3, King James Version) In 2020, somebody thought it was time t...
Read more
Of Life and Labor
Of Life and Labor
Our cover and center pages honor the passing of Henry Smith, Jr., Beloved Elder of the Lac Court Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, born into the Bear Clan at d...
Read more
Butterflies & Dogs. Life is Good!
Butterflies & Dogs. Life is Good!
That’s pretty much what this edition of The Canyon Chronicle is about, except for Tom Cat’s point of view (above).
Butterflies because Butterfl...
Read more
Hansel and Gretel By Coco Blignaut aka Coco Mary
Hansel and Gretel By Coco Blignaut aka Coco Mary
Reviewed by Flavia Potenza
In case you haven’t noticed, much of the content in this issue verges on the whimsical. Coco Blignaut’s latest literary effort takes whimsy and f...
Read more
A Happy Memorial Full of Laughter
A Happy Memorial Full of Laughter
Dick Sherman’s memorial on Sunday July 24, was carefully planned, a labor of love especially for Serena Wiley, who went to work for him when she was...
Read more
FIRE! FIRE! THIS IS A MANDATORY EVACUATION!
FIRE! FIRE! THIS IS A MANDATORY EVACUATION!
What would you do if you had five minutes to pack up and get out of the canyon?
Every year around this time, The Canyon Chronicle publishes the voi...
Read more
Eclectic Topanga
Eclectic Topanga
It’s true. The reason we can have a newspaper at all (let alone two) is because there is so much going on in our mountain hamlet and the community i...
Read more
The Art of Receiving
The Art of Receiving
Lunch, dinner, chicken soup, groceries, dog food, cat food, laundry, dog walking, errands, trips to the doctor, advocates who know how to work the med...
Read more
The Little Free Library
The Little Free Library
Wishing that the week that was...wasn’t... but then again...
Wishing that the week that was...wasn’t... but then again...
A tree falls, a beloved friend dies, you total your car. Sadness, grief, and a body slam, all in a close time frame. The 300-year-old oak tree falling...
Read more
Topanga’s Rich History
Topanga’s Rich History
Art collector John Brewer’s Zoom presentation for the Topanga Historical Society (THS) on May 18, tapped into an obscure gem of Topanga’s history....
Read more
Fun, Frolic and Intimations of 2022 Political Season
Fun, Frolic and Intimations of 2022 Political Season
Mothers Day has come and gone but we can’t help but mention the annual spectacle that is Lexi Pearl’s MOMentum Place. To watch her warm up the aud...
Read more
APRIL FOOL LETTERS!
APRIL FOOL LETTERS!
Starbucks and the Topanga Library! What fool endorsed this one? Who is getting paid off? I hope we Topangans get to vote on this crap!!!
–Joe F...
Read more
Better to Light a Candle
Better to Light a Candle
The last time The Canyon Chronicle referred to the adage, “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,” was during the dark days of the C...
Read more
Topanga Canyon Gallery Closes its Doors
Topanga Canyon Gallery Closes its Doors
Just as it was gaining momentum as a contemporary art gallery worthy of note, Topanga Canyon Gallery (TCG) will close out its all-too-brief run at 137...
Read more
Caught in the Web of the Unpredictable COVID
Caught in the Web of the Unpredictable COVID
Ugh!
Despite two vaxxes and a booster, I think a tribe of variants has found its personal petri dish in my body. I say a tribe because it feels like ...
Read more
Let’s Create Sweet Memories for 2022
Let’s Create Sweet Memories for 2022
Let’s Create Sweet Memories for 2022
What sort of year do you think we’ll be looking at this time next year?
It’s bound to be a rowdy year w...
Read more
Right as Rain
Right as Rain
Our stalwart Fernwood Rain reporter, Eric Fitzgerald is happy to be back in the game again with this photo he captured in Dix Canyon. “You should ha...
Read more
Happy Christmas and Good Tidings to All for 2022!
Happy Christmas and Good Tidings to All for 2022!
The Canyon Chronicle sends a heartfelt thank you to the Topanga community for seeing it through its infancy and wherever we are on the growth scale a ...
Read more
Arthur Nissman—1939-2021
Arthur Nissman—1939-2021
Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the d...
Read more
The Sacrifice of Thankfulness
The Sacrifice of Thankfulness
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances... —Thessalonians 5:16-18
It's nice having a little country church just a couple of miles down the road. It's also nice that the Chabad of Topanga is just up the street and I c...
Read more
Veterans’ Day—A Time to Honor the Warriors, Not War
Veterans’ Day—A Time to Honor the Warriors, Not War
Flavia Potenza
Yesterday was Veterans Day, a day to honor those who went to war because their country called.
On page 5, we have a heartwarming report on the commu...
Read more
Finding Home
Finding Home
It’s been almost three months since the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan amidst chaos and criticism. It has fallen out of the 24-hour news cycl...
Read more
Responsibility
Responsibility
After days of observing and reliving the horrors of 9-11 20 years later, I vividly recall seeing the smoke billowing out of the north side of the Nort...
Read more
Remembering Mary
Remembering Mary
The day seemed full of itself, a fiesta of California sunshine and gentle breezes that set the scene for Mary Colvig’s memorial on Saturday, Septemb...
Read more
Investing in Loss
Investing in Loss
Topanga has lost so many good souls this year. So has the country with more than half a million deaths from COVID-19. To be precise, as of this writin...
Read more
Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
Since our last issue, we’ve had some excitement, some good, some not so much.
For those who follow those things, space flight took off—Sir Rich...
Read more
Hypervigilance
Hypervigilance
Hypervigilance. A state where you are constantly scanning your environment for any signs of danger.
The pit bull running in and out of traff...
Read more
https://vm.tiktok.com/ ZMdf8Pbs4/
https://vm.tiktok.com/ ZMdf8Pbs4/
Monday, June 21, was the solstice, the first day of summer, and Topanga opened its doors to 44 bands and musicians throughout the canyon from 11 a.m. ...
Read more
Night Blooming Cereus and the Computer
Night Blooming Cereus and the Computer
The brilliant pink Night Blooming Cereus blossomed the day my computer crashed.
This plant, has moved and lived with me for a long time and I nev...
Read more
There Are Wars and There Are Wars
There Are Wars and There Are Wars
Welcome to Memorial Day weekend where, with full hearts we pause to honor and remember those who have fallen in the Great Wars, as well as those who f...
Read more
Escape to the Farm
Escape to the Farm
As long as I’ve lived in Topanga (45 years) and as much as I love it and the community it inspires, once I was fully vaccinated and received an invi...
Read more
Families and Friends
Families and Friends
This is the last, but not least of our month-long poetry slam, to which we’ve dedicated three pages. The response from our local poets was so prolif...
Read more
SAGES Thank Tessa Charnofsky!
SAGES Thank Tessa Charnofsky!
The November Senior Dinner at the Topanga Community Center was delicious and included one little surprise: a thank-you presentation of native plants ...
Read more
Earth Day
Earth Day
Topanga celebrates Earth Day year-round, don’t we! It is nice, and likely necessary that we get a jolt once a year to take stock of how we’re doin...
Read more
Stating the Obvious and the Marvelous Mundane
Stating the Obvious and the Marvelous Mundane
Spring came in hot on the heels of autumn, stepping over winter as if it never happened, and teased us with early blooms and glorious days. Winter did...
Read more
Life Goes On
Life Goes On
Residents on Bonnell Drive are fortunate to have a little park with its own weather. Nature is a bit off kilter these days, like us. It drives the sea...
Read more
Mary Colvig 1949-2021
Mary Colvig 1949-2021
Flavia Potenza
A leading light in Topanga has gone out. Mary Colvig passed on
January 26, 2021, of cancer. Hers was a gentle but steadfast light
that brought a hea...
Read more
Harbingers of Spring
Harbingers of Spring
When the daffodils along my neighbor’s fence popped out overnight, It suddenly changed everything that is changing anyway. It feels as if the COVID ...
Read more
Joy in the Shadow of the Virus
Joy in the Shadow of the Virus
Flavia Potenza
Days before Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order in response to the dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases in California, I admit I ventured out of ...
Read more
Topangans Propose Traffic Solution
Topangans Propose Traffic Solution
When Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) sold the 34-acre site of the defunct Warner Center Promenade Mall to the L.A. RAMS for $150 million, Topangans he...
Read more
Eagle Scout Plaque Rededicated
Eagle Scout Plaque Rededicated
On Tuesday, November 9, a group of Eagle Scouts and Eagle Scout dads showed up at the Topanga post office to view and rededicate the replacement plaqu...
Read more
Community Steps Up to Replace Eagle Scout Plaque at P. O.
Community Steps Up to Replace Eagle Scout Plaque at P. O.
No one seems to have noticed when the original plaque honoring Topanga’s Eagle Scouts from as early as 1955 went missing from the Post Office lobby....
Read more
Earthquake Awareness
Earthquake Awareness
With our hypervigilant attention to wildfires over the past several years, a 3.5 magnitude earthquake that jolted the Los Angeles area on Inauguration...
Read more
Bonnell Drive Cancels Halloween Festivities
Bonnell Drive Cancels Halloween Festivities
Residents of Bonnell Drive and the Bonnell Park Homeowners Association have cancelled the popular Halloween party this year because of the risk of spr...
Read more
Kindness is Everything
Kindness is Everything
Oppressive news. Oppressive heat wave. August’s end was not kind. In hopes of lifting the oppressive cloud in my head, with Tippy (dog) and Tom (...
Read more
Vote! “...Eternity is in it”
Vote! “...Eternity is in it”
Thinking Out Loud
Notice something different about
The Canyon Chronicle’s
look? That’s because Nira Lichten agreed to sign on as our Creative Director, smoot...
Read more
How Fragile We Are...
How Fragile We Are...
Gabrielle Lamirand and her husband, Roy, have lost their home in the Berry Creek fire. They were long-time Topangans, great friends to all, and dedica...
Read more
Newspaper Launch
Newspaper Launch
Flavia Potenza is organizing this fundraiser.
May 2020 - The Canyon Chronicle, a new community newspaper serving Topanga Canyon and areas of the Santa Monica Mountains, will launch its first editi...
Read more
Sadness, Solace, Solitude and Spirit
Sadness, Solace, Solitude and Spirit
We wanted her to live forever, even those of us who barely knew her. We especially didn’t want Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to leave us now, in the m...
Read more
Topanga Peace Alliance on the Move
Topanga Peace Alliance on the Move
On Monday, June 1, noticing the growing protests over the outrage of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, Julie Levine rallied Topanga Peace...
Read more
The Simple Life. If Only...
The Simple Life. If Only...
Well, we launched the first issue of The Canyon Chronicle, warts and all, i.e., low-resolution photos, hard-to-read font for articles, and a publisher...
Read more
Topanga’s Independent Voice Since 1976
Topanga’s Independent Voice Since 1976
“WE’RE CONFUSED!” Our community has given us feedback and, in the way it’s supposed to work, we’re listening. It seems readers can’t wrap...
Read more
Unbridled Generosity
Unbridled Generosity
The coronavirus surges again, grateful to humans for being such generous hosts.
Thwarting the attack, we are hunkering down yet again in our microc...
Read more
First Name
*
Last Name
*
Email Address
*