Louise Julig

San Diego Family Out & About Guide: San Diego Coastal section

Every year San Diego Family Magazine publishes Out & About, a free "family adventure guide to San Diego County" and this year I contributed the San Diego Coastal entries, covering the coastal communities of La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and Point Loma. My family and I spent many fun summer weekends on "staycation" scouting out the best family-friendly opportunities right here in our back yard. Find out how to book a kayak tour of La Jolla, where to find a mini regatta at Mission Bay, and the site of the biggest "teddy bear" you've ever seen (180 tons), on the UCSD campus, not to mention a selection of unique, kid-friendly eateries in each community. The guide is available at select locations around San Diego County or online. 

Click here for the San Diego Coastal entries, Page 30-38, online.

Bright Students, Big City: Carlsbad CityStuff program in Carlsbad Magazine

"If some local third-graders had their way, their classrooms would have a pool, a roller coaster and, oh yeah, a mud bath ..." This creative zoning exercise is just one of many interesting things I found out about the innovative program for Carlsbad elementary students called CityStuff that teams Junior Achievement, community volunteers and teachers to teach kids about how their city works. I love learning about good things going on in our community, and the CityStuff program seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved. Check out the full story on page 14 of the January/February issue of Carlsbad Magazine online. 

A Conversation With Senior Tracker Ann Hunt, in AAA Westways

Did you know that there are people who track wildlife in San Diego County? When I found out about the San Diego Tracking Team, I knew I wanted to interview a tracker. I thought tracking was something you only saw in Wild West movies, but it turns out that ordinary people like you and me can be trained to track wildlife from different signs. The San Diego Tracking team does this in many of the urban/rural boundaries in the county and the data are used for planning purposes and to keep tabs on the vitality of the wildlife in the area. I had the pleasure of interviewing Senior Tracker Ann Hunt for the January/February issue of AAA Westways. 

Download "A Conversation With Ann Hunt, Senior Tracker, San Diego Tracking Team" (PDF, 264 K)

Chic Boutiques: Encinitas Magazine

For the Holiday 2009 issue of Encinitas Magazine I landed a plum assignment: explore ten of the most intriguing boutiques in the city and write about them. Encinitas is full of trendy little boutiques with everything from high-end designers and custom jewelry to price point denim to organic children's clothes, so I jumped at the chance to write this piece. Just in time for the holidays, here's a guide to ten of the top fashion-forward boutiques. 

Click here for the online version of "Style Network," or go to page 30 of the digital version of the Holiday 2009 Encinitas Magazine. 

"Turning Play into Professions" —Lego Model Builders

I had a blast interviewing two of the newest Model Builders at Legoland California, Brian Heins and Mandy Jouan, for San Diego Family Magazine. Heins and Jouan were among five finalists who secured a coveted Model Builder job out of a field of 18 who competed for a position with the park this past June. Find out how these two San Diegans turned play into their profession. 

Click here to view "Turning Play Into Professions" in the online version of the November 2009 San Diego Family Magazine

Correction: I learned after this piece was published that the correct way to refer to these toys is "LEGO toys" or "LEGO bricks," and not "Legos," as LEGO is the company brand name, similar to the way one should not say "Kleenex" for "tissues." I apologize for the error.

"Encinitas' Hula Heritage: 50 Years of Aloha" in Encinitas Magazine

This piece about Encinitas hula icon Ginger "Keahi" Allen was very close to my heart. I only met Ginger once, but heard of her often from my daughter's hula teachers, who were students of hers. What I learned from anyone who knew Ginger was that she was filled with the aloha spirit and that she was also practically an institution in my little beach town that's not so little anymore. I wanted to let more people know about what she brought to our community through her generous spirit and the hula halau (dance school) that she ran from her home in Encinitas for 45 years. Thanks to the Allen family for interviews and photos, as well as to the Kehulili O Kailani halau and the Ke Polani Ohana E Kai halau for their stories of Ginger. 

Click here for Encinitas Hula Heritage: 50 Years of Aloha in an online version with additional photos not included in the print edition of Encinitas Magazine.

Quail Botanical Gardens and San Diego Zoo in AAA Westways Out&About

The June AAA Westways magazine features two of my pieces in the Out&About section. "Please Stay On the Grass" on p. 15 announces the new Hamilton Children's Garden at Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, and "Prehistoric Meets Present" on p. 16 describes the San Diego Zoo's new Elephant Odyssey Habitat. I'm always happy to write for Westways and let readers in the region know about the best of what's new in San Diego County. 

Click on the images below for "Please Stay On the Grass" and "Prehistoric Meets Present"

Chula Vista Nature Center

So I petted a bat ray today. As it slowly glided in front of me I reached my arm into the pool and let my fingers glance across the top of its dark brownish-green fin. It was both velvety and a little slimy, and I could feel the muscles in the fin as it curled and flapped up and down to propel itself through the water. We were at the Shark and Ray Experience at the Chula Vista Nature Center, enjoying a gorgeous, post-Thanksgiving day of relaxation and nature. I've been meaning to take my family to the Chula Vista Nature Center for some years, ever since researching it for an article I did on museum birthday parties. But up here in North County, Chula Vista always seemed like way too long of a drive for a casual family outing. In fact, with weekend traffic it only took us a little over half an hour to get there, and we were well rewarded with the well-designed exhibits and interpretive trails once we did. 

We got there too early to take advantage of the docent-led tour at 2 and raptor feeding at 3:30, but we meandered around the grounds quite well on our own. I was frankly surprised at the range of animals on exhibit native to the area, ranging from the tiny sunburst diving beetle to two graceful sea turtles, with everything in between from raptors to rainbow trout to rays and clapper rails. Outside the Discovery Center, the gardens are designed with drought-tolerant, fire-resistant plants, and include a hummingbird and butterfly garden as well as a home composting demonstration area. The interpretive trails from the center to the edge of the bay let us stretch our legs a bit while learning about the marsh ecosystem. 

Unfortunately the nature center, which is home to several endangered species, is itself endangered. Due to city budget shortfalls, a proposal will go in front of the mayor and city council of Chula Vista this Thursday, December 4th, to close the center as early as March 1, 2009. I feel this would be a great loss to South County, as I know of no other resource that offers the educational services, outreach, and commitment to habitat preservation in this area that the Chula Vista Nature Center does. If you would like to see this important, and, let's face it, fun family resource saved, go to Save the Chula Vista Nature Center to sign the petition, donate to the center, or print a letter or flyer to show your support. 

As I lingered over the bat ray's pool, it glided to rest on the bottom just below me. I watched its calm, brown eyes and could swear it was looking up at me. I felt calmer myself just taking in the serene grace of this gentle creature. I would wish for everyone the same opportunity.

  

What can San Diegans do to prepare for climate change?

Beaches encroached upon by a foot-and-a-half higher sea level, Novembers that feel like Septembers (wasn't it just 90 degrees last Saturday?), more frequent and intense wildfires and more frequent and extended droughts are predicted by the year 2050, if current trends continue, in a new report entitled "San Diego's Changing Climate: A Regional Wake-Up Call" released by the San Diego Foundation earlier this week. Intended as a guide to reducing future impact by taking action now, the very readable report gives short, pithy advice at the end of each section on what we can do now to mitigate and manage the effects of climate change in the region.  

The story about the report in Monday's North County Times engendered some lively debate in the web comments, some disagreeing with the premise that the climate is changing at all, some disagreeing that human activity has any effect, and some agreeing with the report's conclusions wholeheartedly. Personally I agree with the commenter who quoted that old adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and figure anything we can do to lessen our impact on the environment has got to be a good thing. The report concludes by asking readers to commit to three personal changes to help our environment. Here are three personal choices I've written about that our family has made:

• Buying more locally produced food by shopping at the Encinitas Farmers' Market and subscribing to a Community Supported Agriculture program
• Landscaping our yard with California Native plants 
• Replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents and LEDs 

The Great Southern California ShakeOut

When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania in the Seventies, there was a joke going around that went like this— Q: What do you get when you cross "Earthquake!" with "The Towering Inferno"? A: Shake and Bake! Now that I live in Southern California and have experienced (mild) earthquakes and have been evacuated due to wildfire, it's not as funny as it used to be. Today at 10 a.m. is the Great Southern California ShakeOut, a statewide drill for "The Big One," and the largest earthquake preparedness event in U.S. history. The web site has a lot of great information, including the most basic instruction to Drop, Cover, and Hold On — for up to a minute and a half of shaking for the scenario the drill envisions of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas Fault — yikes. One thing I learned already from the site is that most earthquake deaths come not from collapsing buildings but from being hit by flying objects. The instruction to get under a table or crouch next to a sturdy piece of furniture or interior wall while covering your neck is to keep you protected from flying objects, and is the experts' advice for how to survive the initial jolt. So, what are you doing at 10:00 today? If you participated in the drill, please leave a comment—I'd love to hear your experiences.