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I ♥ SCV
I Heart SCV
From Goldfields to a Mother-of-Twins Club: Exploring Overlooked Opportunities in the SCV
April, 2008 - Issue #42
Lasthenia, or Goldfields, photographed in our local mountains.
Lasthenia, or Goldfields, photographed in our local mountains.
Late last February, the Amgen Tour of California bike race brought Santa Claritans a vision they rarely get to see: people moving on streets at about 30 miles per hour. I know, I know; they were moving on vehicles powered by their own legs rather than gasoline and they were on two wheels instead of four. Still, the thing I like most about the race isn't seeing people ride bicycles at moderate rates of speed. No, it's watching my fellow Santa Claritans appreciate a sport and culture that most of us don't give a second-thought the other 364 days of the year. Indeed, when else do we get to say "peloton" or cheer on people who make their living by turning pedals?

Thus inspired, I've prepared a spring itinerary that centers on appreciating the under-appreciated and easily overlooked in Santa Clarita. This means a trip for wildflowers, going to a City Council meeting, and taking time to join a local group. Follow my plan and you'll soon realize how many things in SCV manage to escape our notice.

Learning to Like Lasthenia
People like wildflowers in principle. In practice, they're considerably harder to appreciate. That's because we've grown used to the idea of freakishly large, absurdly prolific flowers as being the norm. They're the kind of flowers we buy at Green Thumb - needy plants that pay us back for water and fertilizer with over-sized, outrageous blossoms.

Real wildflowers are nothing like this. Take one of our native species, called Lasthenia, or Goldfields. They live in gritty soil and get by on whatever rain comes their way. They're miserably tiny with blooms scarcely half-an-inch across. But put a few thousand together and you appreciate the ability of goldfields to turn a whole swath of grassland brilliant yellow, if only for a few weeks. In their short, furious lives they awaken to rain, bloom briefly but spectacularly, and die leaving nothing but a few hundred seeds to do the same dance next year.

Wildflowers can be difficult to find in wet years like this one because grass often grows up faster than they can, diminishing the show. Regardless, they're best appreciated up close. What I recommend is getting out to your local patch o' wilderness - Placerita or Towsley Canyons will do - and crawling on hands and knees through the fields and hills, getting up close and personal with clarkias, goldfields, lupines and their ilk. People will either (a) Think you're mentally unstable and give you a wide berth, (b) Laugh, or (c)Admire you for not being afraid to look like a fool in your quest for underappreciated wildflowers.

City Council Meetings: Embrace or Endure

If you think liking wildflowers is hard, don't even bother with politics. That's the strategy most of us Santa Claritans take. When it comes time to elect new council members this April, I predict most of us will elect to stay home instead.

While it's something few of us actually consider doing, staying up on local politics by attending a City Council meeting is a great idea - at least in moderation. They're akin to watching a NASCAR race. The same things happen over and over again, but eventually there are going to be sparks and excitement. Your odds of enjoying something more interesting than a budget approval go up considerably when a hot-button issue like the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital expansion is on the agenda. Going to City Council makes one feel more like a Santa Claritan, and they represent a chance to have our voices heard on topics that will eventually affect us. Clearly, City Councils shouldn't be so willingly overlooked.

Little-Known Groups

You probably know about the Santa Clarita Historical Society and a number of school and volunteer groups, but were you aware of the Santa Clarita Speed Skating Club? What about the Santa Clarita Valley Mother of Twins Club, founded in 1977, or the Mystery and Mayhem Reading Group that meets at Borders bookstore? Suffice it to say that there is a club, alliance, group, society, or association for everyone in this city of ours.

I know that some people will say they have neither the time nor inclination to join groups drawn together by common hobbies, challenges or passions. But since I've declared this the spring of appreciating the under-appreciated, the excuse of no time/inclination doesn't fly. Irish dance fans should find other Irish dance aficionados; those curious about space can link up with the Astronomy Club for their "star parties." It's easy to forego joining groups and clubs once out of school and raising families. However, I can think of few better ways to broaden the circle of Santa Claritans we know or to fully enjoy the pursuits that make us unique. In short, it's time to heart all the things and opportunities that too often just pass us by.
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