Catalina Island

All Poems, Catalina Island, Museums, Trips and Places

Catalina Island

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The last hundred years of Catalina Island are well documented.

In two city museums.

On plaques, in hotels, along piers.

In the botanical garden, Wrigley Memorial.

William Wrigley, Jr. sailing the island into the twentieth century.

Making it a premier place for relaxation.

Filming movies.

Manufacturing tiles.

But eight thousand years before, the island drew inhabitants.

To fish, grow crops, trade, pray to their own deities.

Using plants to make houses, baskets.

Quarrying soapstone, bartering it.

Turning it into bowls, cooking planks, effigies.

Supplying it all across the southwest mainland.

The islanders, Pimuvit, thrived until the eighteenth century.

When the Spanish arrived.

Transmitting European diseases.

Transporting them to work at San Gabriel Mission.

Decimating the population.

Over time they disappeared.

Descendants few, traces tossed

into the jaws of history,

swallowed bit by bit, till lost.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 29, 2024

All Poems, Catalina Island, Love, Natural Beauty, Pleasure, Trips and Places

Hermit Gulch Trail

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We wanted one last hike.

Headed toward Hermit Gulch Trail.

Out of the city, up the hill.

Past the closed nature center.

The golf course, the Sandtrap Restaurant.

Bob studied a map.

Took us to the other side of the street.

Where we began to ascend.

Met a few age mates coming down.

Telling us this was not Hermit Gulch Trail.

This one was doable, beautiful.

The other, narrow, treacherous.

Reassuring revelation.

We continued upward.

Not meeting another hiker.

Just hawks, ravens.

Lizards, snails.

Aromatic foliage that no perfumes could replicate.

Manroots, ginestas, peas.

Palms, cacti, branches dotted in red berries.

Along this path not chosen,

we felt amorous and bold.

Minds, souls interwoven.

Jubilation uncontrolled.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 28, 2024

 

 

 

 

All Poems, Catalina Island, Museums, Trips and Places

People Think

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People think the casino in Catalina Island is for gambling.

But it’s not, and never was.

For a casino is a gathering place.

A term later borrowed by the gambling houses of Las Vegas.

For providing games of chance.

Here in Avalon, the building, constructed to draw crowds.

To a theater on the first floor.

For talking movies.

To a ballroom upstairs.

Which could hold three thousand dancers.

And a sound system to host orchestras.

So enviable that Radio City borrowed its design.

The Casino was built by William Wrigley in 1929.

Ahead of its time.

Circular, twelve stories high, art deco.

Surrounded on three sides by ocean.

With decorative murals outside.

Depicting underwater sea scenes.

The landmark of the island,

elegant, extolled.

Monument to an era.

Full of stories, old.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 27, 2024

 

All Poems, Catalina Island, Humor, Memories, Trips and Places

Wrigley’s Gum

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What was your favorite flavor of Wrigley’s gum?

Mine was Juicy Fruit.

Though sometimes, I chose Double Mint.

The first in a bright yellow package.

The second in cool green.

Each nestling long sticks of gum.

Wrapped neatly in sleek aluminum foil.

When slightly opened, wafting fragrant aromas.

Either fruity or minty.

You could take dainty bites.

Or stuff the whole thing into your mouth.

Either way, the flavor released its spell.

So when you didn’t have it, you wanted it.

That’s my memory of Wrigley’s gum.

But, I never thought about where it came from.

Who made it.

Until the other day.

When we arrived to Catalina Island.

The Wrigley family Island.

Bought by William Wrigley, Jr. in 1919.

Developed over the twentieth century.

Into an eco-paradise.

With beaches, shops, marina.

Eateries, hotels, gardens.

Backdrops for movie sets.

Practice field for the Chicago Cubs.

Casino with theater and ballroom.

Decorative tile factory.

Here we were on Wrigley’s land.

Ferried over from Long Beach.

Unbeknownst to me, by chewing gum,

I extended Wrigley’s reach.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 26, 2024

 

 

All Poems, Catalina Island, Humor, Stories, Trips and Places

Sister Hotels?

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I have to ask you to leave, said the gentleman in black.

In a strange accent, neither Bob nor I could identify.

As we made our way into the lobby of the Mt. Ada Hotel.

After walking thirty minutes uphill.

Bob convincing me it was our hotel’s sister.

As both belonged to the Wrigley family.

Generations of whom owned the island.

The man continued, this is private property. Only for guests.

Bob interrupted, we’re staying at the Atwater.

Thinking the man might warm to us.

I’m sorry, he said, opening the door.

As if to shoo us away.

Well, sir, could we please use the restroom? We walked a long way.

He was reluctant.

Eyeing our hiking clothing.

Leki sticks that could mar pristine white floors, well combed carpets.

I don’t know why he relented.

But, he let Bob pass.

To a well-scrubbed bathroom, smelling of disinfectant.

With fixtures from the last century.

I waited my turn.

Exited to see the man opening the front door yet again.

Other than the three of us, there was not another soul.

You could hear a pin drop in the great hall.

Once outside, we queried him about possible trails.

He was polite, but perfunctory.

Pointing us down the hill.

I’ll open the gate from up here, he said, eager to be rid of us.

Then, how did you get inside? Was it open?

We nodded.

But, in truth, it wasn’t completely open.

That is, it didn’t completely close.

So we slid through.

True to his word, he opened the gate from above.

It didn’t fully close after we got through.

Bob’s presumption about sister hotels

was clearly misconceived.

Ada didn’t welcome Atwater.

Out the door, ho-heaved.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 25, 2024

All Poems, Animals/Insects, Catalina Island, Children, For Children, Stories, Trees, Trips and Places

How Do You Stay Dry?

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How do you stay dry in a saltwater park?

Well, anything’s possible on Catalina Island.

You can visit hundreds of fish in Love’s Cove.

Seated, comfortable in a semi-submersible.

A boat with large windows, stools below deck.

Where you  pass through kelp forests.

Underwater seaweed trees.

Undulating this way, that.

According to the currents.

Straightening up to look for light.

For in this briny world, kelp grows like magic.

Sometimes two feet a day!

With the help of spherical gas-filled floats.

Like tiny helium balloons.

Keeping  blades near the water’s surface.

To catch sunshine.

Schools of fish and seaweed forests

are busy beneath the sea.

Hop a semi-submersible

to glimpse the variety.

No need for scuba gear,

for deep diving anxiety.

Take children, keep them dry,

eyeing marine society.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 24, 2024

 

Aging, All Poems, Animals/Insects, Catalina Island, Family, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Humor, Spouses, Trips and Places

I Feel Triumphant

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I feel triumphant, said Bob.

Standing atop the Garden to Sky Trail.

Six hundred seventy-nine feet above where we started.

A hike taking us an hour, twenty minutes.

With our oldish bodies.

Reinvigorated with barbells, medicine balls.

At the gym at home.

Now scaling heights.

Able to view both sides of Catalina Island.

At the divide on top.

One side looking toward Los Angeles.

The other facing Hawaii.

So we stopped a few moments, rested.

When a small red fox popped out,

celebrating our victory.

Joining us on our route.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 23, 2024

 

All Poems, Animals/Insects, Catalina Island, Trips and Places

Why Bison on Catalina Island?

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You just might be wondering.

Why do bison live on Catalina Island?

How did they get here?

Most islanders tell the same tale.

It started a hundred years ago.

When they were brought to make a film.

Based on Zane Grey’s novel, The Vanishing American.

For a wild west scene.

Though the scene never appeared.

Perhaps cut from the movie?

No one knows for sure.

But the bison reproduced.

Continued their temporary stay.

Though some, repatriated to western plains.

For scarcity of local resources.

More recently, females, given contraception.

To limit population growth.

For this island is quite small.

Often parched by sun, drought.

Catalina conservancy worries

food sources might run out.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 22, 2024

All Poems, Animals/Insects, Catalina Island, For Children, Natural Beauty, Pleasure, Trees

I Never Imagined

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I never imagined I’d be going on safari.

On Catalina Island.

The Channel Island visible from Santa Monica.

An hour’s ferry ride away.

Taking us to a picturesque village.

At the base of high mountains.

Full of eucalyptus trees, ironwoods.

Abundant yellow ginesta blooms.

Cacti, salvias, shrubs.

Soon after docking, we hopped a hummer.

Sat right behind the driver.

For the dusty eco tour.

Looking down as we ascended.

Toward the marina, cruise ship, casino.

Green flora, ponds from recent rains.

Till the route took us through a herd of bison.

At least a dozen huge animals.

Grazing, resting.

Peering at us.

One started toward the vehicle.

But the driver lurched forward.

Avoiding an encounter.

Soon after, two small foxes crossed the road.

Then, a mule deer and some ground squirrels.

A red-tailed hawk and several black ravens circled above.

I just never imagined a safari,

seeing bison roaming free.

On Catalina Island,

high up above the sea.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 22, 2024