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Letter From The Editor
by Randy Fuller
Summer means different things to different people, but nearly
everybody has some sort of outdoor memories attached to the warmer
months.
My childhood summers were mostly spent on a bicycle - the "banana
seat" and high-rise handlebars were standard equipment in my
neighborhood. That two-wheeled device allowed me to escape the
confines of the block I lived in and explore the outer reaches of
society as I knew it. My travel tales were legendary: "I went to the
water tower!" "I rode all the way down Proctor Street!" "I went to
the canal!" All these triumphant exploits were always told to my
sister with an ending that went something like, "Don't tell Mom." And
my sister was good about keeping it under her baseball cap.
Every summer carried along with it a different fascination. One
year it was the Hot Wheels race course we dug into the cool dirt
underneath the house. Another year it was the catcher's mitt from the
S&H Green Stamp Store. The $10 guitar kept me busy for the entire
summer of '69, but I never got any good at playing it. One whole
summer, and all I had to show for it were a couple of painfully placed
chords. A summer later I became somewhat more proficient on the
harmonica. I was able to wheeze through the entire intro to George
Harrison's "Apple Scruffs!"
One year, my mother offered my sister and me rewards for reading.
I tore through books with a fervor I had never realized. I surprised
both my mom and myself with the appetite for reading I developed that
summer. It was a quality that served me well for years after that, a
quality for which I thank my mom to this day.
In this Summer issue of 661 Magazine, Denise Fondo scratches
around for some great summer reads that will serve you well in the
blazing sun or the air-conditioned cool. She also has some "Sleepy
Town Travel" destinations pinpointed for you.
We'll also visit some Summer Festivals going on around the Golden
State, find out where the pools are in the 661 and take a look at our
biggest pool, Castaic Lake.
Our resident hiker, Jerry DeCapua, takes us on the Twelve Hikes of
Summer while Erin Walgamuth celebrates the freshness of the season in
her kitchen, where she seems to celebrate everything. That's alright
with us, though. Check out Erin's "In Season" story and recipes.
In this issue, we are introducing John Sandel to these pages.
He writes about restaurants in a roundabout way. We think you'll enjoy
slice of life he puts on your plate.
I'll tackle the world of wine as usual - yeah, it's a dirty job,
but somebody's gotta do it. This month I'll show you around the wine
aisle of the iPhone's App Store, along with the usual sampler platter
of wine-related tannins and terroir.
An overview of the
roller coasters of Six Flags' Magic Mountain, schedules for the
Dodgers, Angels and Jethawks home games and some great places to watch
fireworks on the Fourth of July round out what we hope is a summer
issue you'll remember at least until the back-to-school sales start.
You can follow 661 Magazine
on Twitter. It's a great way to be alerted to new articles and blog entries.
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Another winner from the Santa Ynez Valley. This pink wine really impressed me. If you're looking for a great find for summer, this certainly qualifies.
