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Nocturnes
One of the characteristics of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, especially in the cities of Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills, is the darkness that befalls the area once the sun goes down. The lack of city and street lights makes the natural light of the stars and moon stand out.
One Friday night when I was eight years old, a man was murdered and his body was left in the bushes on the side of the cliffs. The next day, my friends and I were hiking along the trail and discovered the body. It was the first time we felt the long dark shadow of the adult world invade our safe haven. We all grew up a little that day.
My happiest memory growing up in Palos Verdes was the season of Christmas and the glow of Christmas lights on a moonlit night. It was the most exciting month of the year and it culminated on Christmas Eve by celebrating midnight mass. It formed the most enduring foundation upon which I have built my life.
At about midnight during a full moon we would hike down to the shoreline of the bay and walk across the rocks to the only stretch of sand. Carrying our buckets we sat quietly waiting for the first few grunion to come ashore. We would let them go back out to sea and within minutes hundreds would appear covering the entire sand portion of the shoreline.
Torrance Beach towards Malaga Cove and the Palos Verdes Peninsula
Image shows view looking south along Torrance Beach, with Malaga Cove in center and Rocky Point at far right. Several shore birds are visible along the sandy coastline. Visible at far left atop cliff overlooking the beach is a building, possibly the Hollywood Riviera Club, which was located on the border between the cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance. The clubhouse opened in 1931, offering banquet rooms, two bars, a dance hall and living quarters for various social functions, and closed after being heavily damaged by fire in 1958.
On the nights we had a full moon we would all get together and go out an explore. There were no city lights or street lights so the only light was from the moon. It cast a beautiful blue light on everything and would remind us of Halloween. The shadows would be jet black and we always felt there was something lurking there.
At night, I often opened my window to listen to the sound of the surf crashing on the rocks below the cliffs. It was exciting to hear the roar, but there was also a sense of danger hidden in the shadows below the cliffs. A presence that you could feel but not see. Something that was just beyond the edge.
One night I sat out in the bean field of Portuguese Bend working on a painting of a large eucalyptus tree. Suddenly the dark silhouette of an owl with his talons outstretched came swooping down right for my head. I quickly grabbed my lantern and held it up and it turned away. It then proceeded to glide out over the field. I put my brushes down and sat for several minutes and watched as it skimmed the contour of the field perfectly as it sought its next kill.
When I was in high school, my friends and I would gather along the cliffs on warm summer nights where cool breezes rose up from the shoreline below. We sat and talked for hours. The city lights across the bay shimmered in the distance.
La Venta Inn, Palos Verdes Estates, California
Image shows a twilight view looking northeast from driveway of La Venta Inn, located at 796 Via del Monte on lots 4, 5, and 6, block 1536. Visible in background is the tower and lights of the cities below. The Inn, originally built as a club house (named "Clubhouse 764") to entertain realtors and prospective land owners, opened in the summer of 1923 and was the first permanent building constructed by the Palos Verdes Project. The name was soon changed to La Venta (meaning "The Sale" in Spanish) and the inn served as a sales office and architectural prototype for the peninsula.
