Last night, I was driving home from getting a few fixings for Christmas dinner. It was a cold, clear night, the town glistening and fresh from an afternoon shower. As I came around a curve, I caught a magnificent view of the city's lights, colorfully staged for the holidays.
The view reminded me of another beautiful vista I once loved, up in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. The first lookout was only a few minutes drive up the sixty-six mile Angeles Crest Highway, overlooking my hometown of La Cañada. On a clear day, you could see all the way to LA and the Pacific Ocean.