Lynette Brasfield

This page shows all my articles written for Orange Coast Magazine in 2020.

When my kids were in elementary school, I took them on a short hike to Barbara’s Lake, part of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park off Laguna Canyon Road. “Will we see bears and other wild animals?” they asked with excitement rather than fear.
I had to disappoint them. “No, there are no bears, no leopards, no giraffes in our wilderness parks.”
But a decade earlier, they might have seen a hippo, I told them. Bubbles. In 1978, she escaped from a wild animal park in Irvine and submerged her hefty self ...

A week in the life of an editor

I sat down early yesterday – Mondays and Thursdays are deadline days – with my list of 36 potential editorial items for this issue (we run 36 editorial items, separate from ads in every way, in each issue, twice a week) and wondered how on earth I was going to pull off the necessary formatting, editing, writing, research and follow-up emails and calls, plus decide on the layout, in time to get the edition completed before end of day.

Deadline days are always an...

When I heard the story that early settlers named Hollywood after toyon, a common Southern California shrub with bright red berries and leaves that very much resemble those of English holly, I was fascinated.
Not only that, after leaving the trails I actually remembered the name and the look of the shrub, as well as the fact that the fruit appears over the winter months – and I found it easy to identify on my hikes from then on.The Hollywood tale may or may not be accurate, but it did illustra...

On a freezing morning earlier this week, at very short notice, a large group of Lagunans clustered on Main Beach Boardwalk, determined despite the cold to talk to Stu News about Chip Lambert, who for 40 years spent many hours each day sitting on a bench near the Lifeguard Tower. They wanted to memorialize a man they loved.
“To me, Chip was the real Laguna Greeter,” says Gary Cogorno, who, with Chip’s good friend Tom Combs, organized the get-together. “By that I mean that he was the locals’ gr...

Many would-be hikers and bikers flock to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Parks during and after rainstorms, naturally disappointed to find them closed. Indeed, some people get aggressive when told that they are not allowed in, arguing with park rangers and insisting that they have a right to access the trails.
The reality is that the wilderness parks are primarily intended to preserve habitat, and only secondarily to serve the public.
Other people are more c...

As a testament to the wonderful care that the 50 or so cats housed by nonprofit Blue Bell for Foundation for Cats receive, one of their residents, Mittens, has just turned 22 years old, a great age for a cat.
Last Saturday afternoon, volunteers came out in droves to celebrate the birthday of the “Babe of the Bunk Beds.” The venerable tabby sported a pink bib and was crowned in gold at her pawty, where she received many pettings.
As volunteer Lindsey Arnette points out, “Our beloved Mittens ha...

Brought to you by Laguna Beach Seniors at The Susi Q
Carole Zavala, artist, strategic consultant for nonprofits, and founder of The Susi Q’s Gallery Q, had two careers in mind as a youngster: astonishingly, she wanted to be either a nun or a ballerina – two occupations that on the surface seem vastly dissimilar, one reclusive, the other dependent on the spotlight.
Carole explains: “When I was 12, I’d hang out at my aunt and uncle’s house, where they had stacks of National Geographic magazines...

Wendy Nelson is a driving force – whether it's steering a Vintage Airstream Trailer or at the helm of Laguna’s last remaining gay bar
Story by LYNETTE BRASFIELD
Photos by Mary Hurlbut
Third-generation Lagunan Wendy Nelson swooped back into town approximately six years ago from Northern California to help her brother Jimmy navigate the ups and downs of running Laguna’s only remaining gay bar, Main Street Bar & Cabaret on Coast Highway.
“I’m here to honor my brother, to honor his desire to save...

A man and his dog: Mike and Harlie are fellow mentors to a cadre of canines
Two years ago, Mike Mitchell met the dog who changed everything for him.
“Harlie was about a year old when I rescued her,” Mike explains. “She jumped, she bit, she pulled. It was like having a kangaroo and an alligator at the end of a leash.”
Training the energetic, very smart Belgian Malinois gave Mike a tremendous sense of achievement and joy, and led directly to his dog training business, K9 Shaper, which is thrivi...

Associate editor/writer Dianne Russell: What you don’t know about her might surprise you

Photos by Mary Hurlbut

Dianne Russell, associate editor of Stu News Laguna for more than two years, is well known around town for her beautifully written articles on subjects ranging from predatory tarantula wasps to the miraculous recovery of a lost wedding ring.

She’s perceived as a friendly, warm, curious person (curious about others, that is!), who wouldn’t harm a fly.

That is true: she wouldn’t harm ...

President of Laguna Beach Garden Club, Nancy Englund: The more you look, the more you see
Photos by Mary Hurlbut
Nancy Englund’s garden feels alive with motion: plants wriggle, float, and dangle in the air; succulents burst from the ground in an abundance of shapes, textures, and colors; they coil, cavort, and wrangle for space beside tipped amphoras, a koi pond, a fountain, and ceramic fish and figurines.
The controlled chaos of Nancy’s garden is breathtaking, her penchant for whimsy evidenc...

Photos by Mary Hurlbut
Paula Olson, outreach director of the nonprofit Laguna Canyon Foundation (LCF), was unfazed when a second grader asked recently whether the group would see “bears and giraffes” when they headed out on the trails as part of an educational outing.
“So many of the kids on these field trips have had virtually no exposure to anything other than an urban landscape,” Paula says. “A question like that is a great opportunity to tell them about the animals that do call our wilder...

Photos by Mary Hurlbut
Less than eighteen months after a three-story fall that resulted in serious brain injury – rendering then 21-year-old Stephanie Bachiero unable to talk or walk, broken in mind and body – her therapist, watching her progress slowly toward recovery, handed her a Saddleback College catalogue.
“Time to exercise that brain,” the therapist said, or words to that effect.
Through the fog of her damaged cognitive abilities, Stephanie, determined once again to be self-sufficient,...

Warm, funny, and smart: Kris Thalman, outgoing president of Laguna Beach Seniors, is all that and more
Photos by Mary Hurlbut
Kristine Thalman, outgoing president of Laguna Beach Seniors and former executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, says she still owns “three big honking Rolodexes” reflecting a lifetime of building relationships.
“Digital files just don’t feel as personal,” Kris says. “I love the way flipping through the cards brings back memories.”
She waxes nostalgic as we chat ...