Three dollars per mile!

First, The Thanks and The Asking

People. PEOPLE. Thanks to the donations you’ve given, at this point I’ve had three dollars donated for every mile I traveled! THAT IS OUTSTANDING. Thank you! It would be AMAZING if that trend continued. Share and make it happen, because YOU ARE AWESOME.

Next, The Hopefully Interesting Ramble

It’s probably hard to tell, but I sometimes do a bit of research before I go out on a ride so I can have some ideas for things to talk about; that’s how I knew about the Tataviam Tribe and Charles Maclay. It started with a 1923 map of the San Fernando Valley from the Library of Congress.

Why, this very map in fact!

Lots of changes in the last 100 years. One of them is that green box around streets in the Northeast corner of The Valley.

Why, this very box in fact!

The largest thin in the bost is the name Maclay. It’s the street name, but it’s larger than the other streets in the area, so I searched for it and found this article:

San Fernando’s Maclay Avenue isn’t just a name to the city founder’s family. But for a Native American tribe, it must go

…and that led to this video:

The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians: Renaming Maclay Avenue

That’s a little heavier than I usually like to go in these videos, but I’m always interested in finding out the history of The Valley. So in it went.

The Oviatt Library was different. I already knew about the filming at CSUN, and I knew where I could find those clips, so I didn’t look it up ahead of time. When I got home I realized I’d been going to that library for over 30 years and I had no idea who it was named after, and thought I might find a History Fun Fact or two that I could throw into the edit.

…and that led to this article:

Oviatt name removed from CSUN library, lawn effective immediately

Then: Mom!

Mom didn’t just teach 36.6 miles away for twenty years. For most of that time, she taught first grade. I’ve taught first grade; it’s hard. Kids aren’t used to longer school days, and the sheer number of different subject (and amount of information students are supposed to learn in each of them) is overwhelming. Add to that teaching kids for whom English is often a second language and the pressure skyrockets. I don’t think I could have done it. Go mom! You rock.

A nearly-current picture of Mom and me.

The Thanks and The Asking (slight return)

This is probably my last TogetheRide post of 2020. It has been thrilling and inspiring to see people give so much during this wacky, difficult year. Let’s all have a 2021 with more of the inspiration and less of the difficulty. A year that lets us actually see each other’s faces! And enter the “Tell Me Where To Go” contest!

Happy New Year!

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