Summer Colors

These would be fall colors in the Midwest, where I grew up. Here, as seen from the Sam Merrill Trail, browns and golds are summer colors. Bits of gray, green and orange enhance the palette of the scrub's subtle beauty. It's not what I'd call a riot of color but it's hugely varied. Along the many nature trails here you'll also find wildflowers any time of year: red, yellow, even bright purple.

In the background of the photo a path leads uphill through the area that burned almost a year ago. I don't know if the path is new or if it was always there and was revealed by the burn. Lately a man has been out there shoveling in the hot sun, making the path into a stairway. I tried to get a picture but he was far away, and it was crazy enough for me to be there. The scrub is beautiful but not as tall as trees, and it doesn't provide much shade.

Got $7.733 Million?

Pasadena has a Frank Lloyd Wright house. Just one. And it's on the market.

It's called "La Miniatura," and it's considered one of Wright's masterpieces, according to this article. That can be good or bad for me, should I decide to buy it. For instance, I wouldn't want tourists lining up in my driveway and peeking around my fence every day. But the house is tucked away in a ravine above the Arroyo Seco. It looks lovely and quiet from the street, and unless you're willing to trespass, you can only peek onto the grounds. Click the article link above and scroll to the bottom for more photos.

Alice Millard, one of Pasadena's early arbiters of taste, paid $17,000 for the house when it was built for her in 1923. It was an expensive home in its day.

The house is called "La Miniatura," but I think I'll have room for all my stuff in 4,000 square feet. Maybe not. You know how things accumulate.

Colorado Street Bridge At Night

Maybe not my definitive shot, but I do like this one. Taken at the east end of the bridge, July 19th 2008.

Zen Monday: Crime Scene

East end of the Colorado Street Bridge, just off the walkway.

Zen Monday is the day you tell me what the photo's about, rather than me telling you. While on vacation I may not be willing or able to respond quickly to comments.

Chambers' Nighttime Chambers

I took this photo of the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals Building the same day as yesterday's, an hour or two later, while at the annual Colorado Street Bridge party.

I couldn't find much on the web about Richard H. Chambers himself, except that he was the judge whose idea it was to bring a Federal courthouse to Pasadena. There's plenty of information about the building, however. Here's a nice gloss on the place, with photos and information. Even a map.

I'm currently on vacation, so responding to comments may happen in an untimely fashion, which means I may not be quick about it and I'll probably be wearing something that's way out of date.

White Sky

While on the Colorado Street Bridge for the July 19th festival I took this photo of the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals Building, another Pasadena icon everyone loves to photograph. The building originally opened in 1903 as the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel, thus beginning its fascinating history.

I'm not sure if the rooftops in the foreground are of condos or a private home. We called it "Casa de Escher." Click on the shot below to enlarge it and get a better idea of why.

None of this explains the color of the sky.
While on vacation I might not be able to respond to comments as quickly as I'd like to, so please bear with me, or bear without me, or just bear.

Theme Day: Metal

On the first of every month, the City Daily Photo Blog community has a theme day. Today's theme is "metal."

July 19th I showed you a destruction site where a building is being torn down. The thing that most impressed me about the work was that as they tore the building apart they were sorting the materials.

Yup. Recycling. Heavy machinery delicately plucked huge pieces of iron and placed them in the "huge pieces of iron" pile, as opposed to the "curly pieces of metal" pile. Shovels piled corrugated metal upon corrugated metal instead of throwing it all into muddled heaps of rubble.

I don't know if they were doing this due to any regulations, but I do know Pasadena City Council voted in 2006 to require that (among other things) all new construction meet LEED standards. Pasadena wants to be a Green City, and it's not just talk.

Many other blogs in the City Daily Photo Blog community are participating in today's theme day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.