Category: Lifestyle

Venice resident grows own produce with aeroponic gardening system By Haley Beyer During the pandemic, people were faced with a shortage of food in stores. Venice resident Sasha Gary decided that she wasn’t going to let that hold her back from having access to food that was fresh, healthy and nutritious. During World War I and II, families were running out of food so they began to grow their own. This was called victory gardening, which is also known as tower gardening. It also provided enough food to send to soldiers and resulted in improved morale because it allowed people at home to contribute to the war efforts. Tower gardening is a 3-foot aeroponic system for indoor use that makes growing fresh produce convenient and even a little exciting! Gary has grown spinach, kale, cilantro, parsley, swiss chard, edible flowers and lettuce, and is looking to expand into basil, mint and thyme. Basically, any kind of produce can be grown using this system. There is even the option for a bigger base for the system so it can handle the weight of watermelons, cantaloupe, and other dense fruits and vegetables. “This changed my whole way of living,” Gray said. “I can provide myself with food for the rest of my life.” The system stands up so it doesn’t take up as much room, which means the water must be...

Kathryn “Kitty” Elizabeth Luond McCarthy (Sept. 12, 1923 – June 6, 2021) Longtime resident of Venice and native Californian, Kathryn “Kitty” McCarthy, peacefully passed at 97 years old in her Venice home of 70 years on June 6, 2021. She was surrounded by her loving children. Kitty was born in Imperial Valley on a dairy farm to parents Elizabeth and Joseph Luond, and older sister Viola. She often attributed her strong work ethic and cheerful nature to her upbringing on the farm, where she milked cows at 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day, as well as harvested the alfalfa that fed their herd. As a teen, she played softball and participated in gymnastics, once ‘performing’ on the back of a flatbed truck in a Fourth of July parade in Brawley. A good student, she started working during high school at a local drugstore and moved briefly up to Washington state to live with her older sister and husband. There, she helped with the war effort, joining the WACs and working in a large garage, cleaning and assembling parts for military vehicles. Back in California, Kitty met her husband, Marine Corp Tech. Sgt. John C. McCarthy (JC), who proposed to her at the top of the Ferris wheel at the Long Beach Pike. They were married and moved to his home in Connecticut, where they had the first two...

Still Life provides tools to reduce stress and increase happiness By Sofia Santana Founded two years ago by Henry Mitchell, Jim George and Spencer Atkins, Still Life is a company centered around the practice of stillness and prioritizing overall well-being. “Our mission is to reduce suffering from anything like tension, stress, anxiety and sleep problems, and to increase well-being like creativity, problem-solving skills, and to allow people from all walks of life to build towards a life well-lived,” said Atkins, co-founder and CEO of Still Life. Still Life’s facility on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice opened just three weeks before the pandemic hit. Atkins and his team were forced to get creative and explore other options for their services. “Once COVID hit, we really had to accelerate the digitization process,” Atkins said. “We already knew we wanted to create an app, and this accelerated process ended up being one of the best gifts we all collectively could have gotten because now we’re not constrained by the physical limitations of our space. We can really reach more people and really democratize stillness.” Their mission to democratize stillness was one of the driving forces in the creation of a free vaccination meditation to help ease any COVID vaccine-related anxiety. “When the vaccine came out and was being discussed, we saw a lot of people having a lot of fear because it...