LABOR DAY

 

Happy Labor Day! Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.

I spent over 45 years in the work force. Some of that time was spent as a union member, working at various movie studios throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am reaping the benefits of full-time employment thanks to the labor movement's accomplishments over the years for equal rights, better working conditions and equal pay, especially for women. Thank you.

One of my favorite Woody Guthrie songs is "Union Maid," written in 1940.  Here's my rendition with some updated lyrics added in 1973 by Nancy Katz.

Labor Day

  

Happy Labor Day! Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.

I spent over 45 years in the work force. Some of that time was spent as a union member, working at various movie studios throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am reaping the benefits of full-time employment thanks to the labor movement's accomplishments over the years for equal rights, better working conditions and equal pay, especially for women. Thank you.

One of my favorite Woody Guthrie songs is "Union Maid," written in 1940.  Here's my rendition with some updated lyrics added in 1973 by Nancy Katz.

Happy Labor Day!

V*O*T*E

The 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920

A few weeks ago I filled out my absentee ballot and mailed it in. It was my privilege to do so! Voting is a sign that you believe in your democracy and that you feel that it is a worthwhile and important thing to do.  Therefore, every time you vote, it is a declaration that you believe in your country.

Before 1920, women in the United States of America could not vote. My own grandmothers could not vote in the years that their children were born. Thank you for fighting for our rights.

Voting day is TODAY, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. I am not going to recommend who you vote for or which ballot measures to support. It is just important that your choices are counted. Your vote can make a difference, especially on the local level.  If you need guidelines on how to vote today, check out this website. 

Labor Day

Female workers in Labor Day Parade, NYC, 1936. NY Daily News, Getty Images  

Happy Labor Day! Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century became a federal holiday in 1894.

I am thankful to all the workers who came before me, standing up for equal rights on the job.

I spent over 45 years in the work force. Some of that time was spent as a union member, working at various movie studios throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am reaping the benefits of full-time, corporate employment thanks to the labor movement's accomplishments over the years for equal rights, better working conditions and equal pay. Thank you.

Words to Live and Knit By

 

Suzanne's sweater honoring the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This has become a tradition on "L.A. Is My Beat."  For the past decade or so I have been featuring Suzanne's MLK sweater on my blog in honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will repeat  again this year because I'm so in love with this idea and in awe of Suzanne's mad skills. 

The sweater pattern is from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines."  The name of this sweater is "Margaret," designed for the book by Mary Neal Meador.  The instructions state that the sweater may be embellished after knitting with chain stitched quotations of the knitter’s choice.  The sweater in the book has poetry added to the front and back. 

When I saw Suzanne's ("owlknits") sweater, I was touched by the words she chose.  This is from Suzanne's project page on Ravelry: 

I knit this sweater for a local art exhibition that was organized to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I used quotes from his “I have a dream…” speech to embroider on the front and back of the sweater: Front: Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Back: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges.

I am still blown away by Suzanne's sweater and her choice of quotations.  One day I will make such a sweater for myself.  Bravo!  Excellent work, Suzanne, honoring an eloquent man and his ideas! 

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Marin Luther King, Jr.

Jax Are Here

Jacaranda Trees on South Fairfax Avenue, Mid-City, L.A.

Decorating our troubled City are glorious Jacaranda trees.  The streets are filled with the purple blossoms of Jacaranda trees! Lots of people hate the sticky residue that these blossoms leave on their cars. I don't care, the purple is gorgeous...glorious! In 2008, L.A. Times staff writer, Francisco Vara-Orta referred to these blue/purple flower trees as "purple people pleasers."

The Jacaranda Tree in Front of Our House

When I moved into our neighborhood, almost 30 years ago, many of our neighbors wanted to plant trees on our parkways. We have the widest street in Wilshire Vista...we consider it the center of our neighborhood. Since jacaranda trees are fast-growing, that's what we decided to plant. Many of our trees are now tall and full of flowers. In fact, this has been a very flowerful Spring!

Roses and Gladiolas Near the Driveway

Yellow Daisies and Succulents in the Front Yard

Experiencing all of the beautiful flowers in our neighborhood is a brief respite from the strife felt across our country. Welcome Spring!

Memorial Day

Lately, the Memorial Day holiday has been known as the kick-off to the summer. We understand it to be just another day off from work, time for a short vacation, sales at the mall or the family barbecue get-together. 

From Wikipedia, here's the description of the Memorial Day Holiday: Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.
During the early 1980's I lived on Sepulveda Blvd. near Montana Ave., just north of the Los Angeles National Veteran's Cemetery in Westwood. One year on Memorial Day, I walked with a few neighbors down to the Cemetery to see if one of the military bands was performing. On this particular soldiers' holiday, Boy Scouts had placed small flags on every single grave in the cemetery. There are 116 acres of marble headstones. Westwood is the largest veteran's cemetery outside Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia. Needless to say, all of those thousands of little flags waving in the wind was a sobering, but magnificent sight. There wasn't a band playing that day, just many soldiers and families of military men and women paying their respects.

Major George E. Bloom, 1942

In addition to today being Memorial Day, it's the 15th anniversary of my Father's death. George E. Bloom was born in 1919 in Philadelphia, PA and passed away on May 25, 2004 in Los Angeles, CA. This past March 30th would also have been Dad's 100th birthday. When he was six months old, the Bloom family moved to Los Angeles.  Dad considered himself a life-long Angeleno.  Thank you for imparting your historical knowledge of our wonderful City to me, Dad.

Pop, 1984, Pacific Ocean, off Marina del Rey

Later, this afternoon we're attending a pot-luck Memorial Day lunch with my ukulele group, The C.C. Strummers. It should be a fine time!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone.  Enjoy your day and remember those who have served so that we can have this day of remembrance.

The Land of Giants

Mary Joe and The Coronade Heights "Paul Bunyan," Tucson, Arizona

Yes, Larry and I are obsessed with roadside signage of a certain era, especially "Muffler Men." We have plenty of these hunky fiber glass guys right here in Southern California (Chicken Boy is our favorite, of course).

Decades ago, Larry drove by a most curious collection of buckets on a flat piece of land just outside of Tucson, Arizona. He drove by again about 15 years ago, but both times he could not stop and explore. Last week, we finally stopped and took photos of the mysterious buckets surrounding this piece of property on the highway.

The Buckets, Eloy, Arizona

The Buckets were moved from Magic Mountain in Valencia, California for a proposed theme park. It never happened.  Read about it here. 

We saw the Muffler Man above, Mr. Coronado Heights, right in Tucson. I do love his strong jaw!

After our visit to Tucson and seeing the sights, along with many museums and the Kon Tiki Restaurant (awesome), we continued to Las Cruces New Mexico. We were very busy with the Las Cruces Uke Fest and sightseeing in Las Cruces. Upon our departure, Larry took one of the blue highways out of town and we came upon another Muffler Man at an RV dealership in Hatch, New Mexico (home of the famous Hatch chiles).

RV Salesman, Cowboy. Hatch, New Mexico

He's holding a mini-Winnebago. A "mini-Winnie"

Colonel Sanders was sitting on a bench at the back of the lot in the shade of the garage. He was not giant.

Less than one mile down the road, we came upon Sparky's Burgers & BBQ.  Sparky's is a veritable smorgasbord of roadside signage and statues. Both sides of the road have some great advertising statues, including Uncle Sam, Yogi Bear, Bob from the Big Boy Restaurant, The A & W family sits atop Sparky's building. There's this huge pig, a dinosaur, Robin Hood and more. Sparky's was quite busy, so only Larry peeked inside. He said there was even more advertising memorabilia inside!

Sparky's Burgers in Hatch, NM

The A&W Family

This is Sparky, holding a frosty freeze ice cream cone and a burger. The perfect lunch!

Uncle Sam, holding a famous Hatch chile

WOW! It was a BONANZA of roadside beauty! We talked about this for miles and miles, until we reached Scottsdale, Arizona.  That's another story!

The Red Scarf Project

Thanks to my co-workers Rosalyn, Cameron and Nicole for modeling this year's Red Scarves!

Time to root through your stash for red, burgundy, cherry or russet yarn! Even though we're gearing up for holiday knitting and crocheting, let's take some time to help out The Foster Care to Success Organization. They are collecting red scarves for their project! Years ago, my friend, Photographer, Gale Zucker told me about this wonderful group. Gale photographed the models for the advertisement below. I thought this would be a good time to think about others and help out this community of deserving students.

Above Photos by Gale Zucker

From the website:  We launched a unique initiative to warm the hearts (and necks) of college-bound foster youth. We began taking donations of handmade red scarves to put into our Valentine's Day Care Packages for young adults who have left the foster care system.

Here are the scarf guidelines.

It's easy. All you need to do is knit or crochet a soft red scarf, 5-8 inches wide and about 60 inches long. A uni-sex style is best...not too lacy or frilly. Include washing instructions and maybe a note of encouragement to the student. Remember, the scarf does not have to be solid red. It can be a shade of red (burgundy, cherry, russet, stripes with red, etc.)

Mail the scarf or scarves to: 

Foster Care to Success

Red Scarf Project

23811 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 210

Cleveland, OH 44122

The Organization only collects scarves from September 1st through December 15th because of storage limitations. You have plenty of time to complete your scarf! If you can't decide on a pattern, there are a few suggested patterns on the website. Get going! You'll feel good and so will the student! It's a win-win project!

I crocheted 3 scarves this year. 2 red, 1 burgundy!

I bought a skein of this gorgeous red yarn at the recent Stitches West from the Needlepoints West booth. I think I have time to make one more scarf!

One more proposed scarf!

If you live near me, give me your scarf by December 10th and I'll mail it for you!

"Can We All Just Get Along?"

The wise words of Rodney King, 1992, Los Angeles.

Labor Day

I'm thankful to all the workers who came before me, standing up for equal rights on the job.  Happy Labor Day!

Sun Blocker Pussy Hat

I've knit many pussy hats in the last year. January 2017, during the Women's March in Los Angeles, I was proud to report that many of my friends were wearing pussy hats that I knit. I was glad to be of help and represented in this way. 

Alyson, Darcy, Mary Jo, Natalie, Brit and Ellen

Jacquie in Las Vegas

Eve in San Francisco

Nicole in Los Angeles

Tracy in Northern California

Last year it was chilly and all of my friends, above, wore their pussy hats in the traditional, wintry style. This year, during the 2018 Women's March in downtown Los Angeles, the sun was out and shining brightly. 

My cousin Laurie and my friend Lisa both put there knitted pussy hats on top of big sun hats. Brilliant!

Laurie's and Lisa's converted Pussy Hats, 2018

Now, I've been thinking about creating a pussy hat with a brim or a visor! 

I could modify my Newsboy Hat (right) into a Pussy News Hat (left)

I could modify my Derby (right) into a Pussy Derby (left)

Back to the drawing board before the next march!