Summer season’s special greetings

‘Tis the season. And I don’t mean of mistletoe and jingle bells.

I’m thinking tourists and traffic and no place to park. I’m thinking beach towels and bathing suits and good, sandy fun. I’m thinking cold lemonade and sunny afternoons. I’m thinking about what it means to be home.

Laguna is a great place to live. Ask anyone who is here ? and if they are new in town, they’ve paid for the right dearly ? or anyone who’d like to live here. We know it from the top down. Our sweet and diverse neighborhoods, our fabulous downtown walking/shopping district, the way the community opens its heart and pocketbook in support of the schools, the arts, social services and the city in general.

Sure, we like to grouse about the Village Entrance or Design Review or Art in Public Places committees. But aren’t we lucky that our citizenry steps into controversial positions for little to no pay? We are involved, through our letters to the editor, our conversations over meals in our trendy restaurants, and the gossip on the street.

We call Laguna home, and we are lucky to do so ? even if MTV has created an odd stereotypical view of who we are and what values we embrace. Living here is it’s own proof, and that’s why we stay.

And fight to stay, we do. I’d like to again thank past-mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider for the tremendous energy she expended in providing continuity and support for those families displaced by the Bluebird landslide, which included my mother’s home.

Occasionally I stop at the top of Cress Street and look at the reconstruction. Huge frames of steel stand in place of my mother’s lemon tree, her avocado, the vintage olive, the birdbaths and roses. I have only to close my eyes and I am running down the concrete steps into the house with a wild “good morning, mom.” I can see her frog collection on the porch and wonder at her ever-blooming Christmas cactus.

The house, of course, is gone. As are the trees, flowers and any trace that once-upon-a-time we gathered for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners. Except in our memories, which, blessedly, we all still have.

Thanks to the pull of the community, my parents are safe and relocated. They don’t have their ocean view, and are temporarily removed of the verities of city politics, but the hillside is slowly taking the shape of something that will again embrace a neighborhood. It’s great to be part of Laguna.

Not everyone is as lucky. My joy-filled heart cracks open at times to places where life and communities are not as supportive. Foreign countries and their associated maladies and atrocities could fill this entire column, and certainly cast a pall on the best of human moods. Even in our extended backyard, those affected by last year’s hurricanes have not fared as well as we might hope. Most are still displaced and confused about the course of their futures.

It’s a funny thing about community and the sense of home. Growing up in Laguna, I felt the town was way too small and closed-in. Everyone knew everyone else’s business. The “big city” of Newport Beach was always calling the teenage spirit. Now, the kids of Newport want to be here.

Fact is, Laguna is only a few thousand larger in population than in the late ‘60s. It’s simply that our backyard filled in with Aliso Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and an expanded Laguna Niguel, and the island-like isolation I experienced as an adolescent has disappeared.

It’s not merely that we are more popular because of television exposure, we are more accessible by a larger volume of day travelers. They like the beachside town, aka resort, and increasingly, they fall in love with what we have built and they want to stay. Our popularity strains our resources.

Traffic will continue to plague our council meetings. The widening of Laguna Canyon Road will likely encourage more travelers to head toward the beach ? and smack into our own El Toro “T” ? and a two-lane crawl toward nonexistent parking. The art festivals open within the next week, and easy travel goes on vacation until October.

Still love it though ? Laguna. Perfect weather. Wonderful shoreline. Amazing greenbelt. Great food, fun shopping, art and friends. ‘Tis the season ? of summer.