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Anna Chen's avatar

Still a shame that part of your history went up in smoke.

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Elle Smith's avatar

I still get clocked as a Californian to this day. I should have never moved away. At least I come back a few months a year. NYC isn't even close. You grew up in a beautiful area. You were so lucky. I was so lucky. I just didn't know it.

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John Mendelssohn's avatar

Two things. When I moved back between 2013 and 2015, I realized I'd grown up in Paradise, but then I remembered how awful the smog was when every back yard had its own incinerator.

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Elle Smith's avatar

I've been pondering this for awhile. An incinerator in your back yard. I love these odd tidbits. It's like the chicken coop ban in Los Altos, California. Probably started in the ‘70’s but now it's A-OK as long as you have no roosters because it's, you know, shishi and on trend to have those organic, home grown eggs.

I just googled that the incinerators were banned in the move to clean up L.A. air.

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Elle Smith's avatar

Incinerators? In backyards?? I never knew about that. That's wild. The smog is so much less than when you were young there. It's beautiful rn in Santa Monica. Life, at best, is a gauntlet of reasonable sacrifices and I know you miss the sun.

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