October 6, 2025
In the early 1940s, Long Beach experienced a surge in defense-related employment, notably with the establishment of the Douglas Aircraft Company at Long Beach Municipal Airport in 1940. This facility became a key production center for military aircraft during World War II. The influx of workers necessitated the development of new housing to accommodate them. We walked by some of that housing and it did not look much different than we imagine it did when first built.
Adding to the nostalgic vibe of the neighborhood were these two classic vans
Our walk took us to the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery which contains a beautiful mausoleum that was built in 1924-25. It is a very Spanish style beautiful building. We struck up conversation with a passer-by who goes for regular walks around the mausoleum and surround cemetery. Allan acted as our guide, showing up points of interest. It was a little eerie walking down endless marble corridors surrounded on all sides by dead people.
Among the dead is a Foucault pendulum. Named after its inventor, the French physicist, Leon Foucault, the pendulum was conceived to demonstrate the earth’s rotation. By hanging a long and heavy pendulum from a high roof above a circular area, the plane of the oscillation appears to change as the earth rotates. In other words, although the pendulum is only swinging in one direction, the earth is rotating underneath it, making it look as though the pendulum is swinging in different directions as the day progresses. So when we were there in the early afternoon, the pendulum was swinging toward hour 15 of the 24 hour clock. Supposedly, if we came back a couple of hours later the pendulum would be swinging toward hour 17 of the clock, despite the fact that the pendulum would be swinging on the same arc.
Because of its large Hispanic population and widespread Spanish architecture, it’s easy to imagine in Southern California that you are, in fact, in neighboring Mexico. This is particularly the case when you stop into a Gonzalez supermarket, where most of the signage is in Spanish and the goods are targeted toward its Hispanic customers. With its cheerful colors and immaculate presentation it is definitely one of the nicest supermarkets we have entered.
Mal and Lauren 