Friday, March 25, 2011

Aquatic Creatures

Remember the Last Day Project? Once a month for a year, I posted a photo taken from this spot, to catch the changing of the seasons. Never once did I catch anything like this. Go ahead, click the link and scroll down. The difference is amazing.

Johnson Field's been soggy lately, but in my five and a half years in Pasadena I've never seen it flooded. And look! Ducks! I may declare tomorrow and Sunday "Duck Weekend" and post more photos of them.

Hahamongna was glorious, wet and chilly yesterday morning, just the way the ducks like it. By the way, dogs like it that way, too. Maybe I'll make it "Dog Weekend." I can't decide.

Either way, we expect more rain today and tomorrow. By Sunday, we'll probably have manta rays and sharks out there.

31 comments:

J.J. in L.A. said...

Gorgeous! You rarely get to see that kind of green in So. Cal. lol!

Sebab said...

Beautiful shot!

Dirk said...

Heehee! This makes me want to laugh out loud and clap my hands in delight like a little kid. How cool is this??!

Petrea Burchard said...

Isn't it something, J.J.? For us it is, at least. Sailor, you could almost take a cruise on it. Dirk, I hope you'll get a chance to see it up close.

dive said...

Wow! That looks almost like England, Petrea. What a pity that the weather doesn't work both ways; we could sure do with some California sunshine up here in the frozen north.

Unknown said...

So bucolic! If you showed this to people from elsewhere, they would never guess we were 15 minutes drive from the largest metropolis in the country.

Virginia said...

Or maybe skinnydipping? :)

Guess I'm glad we postponed my visit. I'll let you all dry out before I head on over.
V

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I was there a few days back. I don't recall ever seeing this basin fill up before. Do you think it has to do with the plowing taking place on that end?

Petrea Burchard said...

Dive, believe it or not we could do with some California sunshine right about now, as well.

Jane, if I move my camera slightly to the right you can see the JPL campus. Slightly to the left and you can see the houses above the freeway. I shouldn't tell people this.

Give us time, Virginia. I hope our summer won't be as frigid this year as it was last year.

I slogged through there a few days ago and wished I hadn't, PA. There were already a few inches of water in the field. Perhaps there's a drainage issue they haven't had there before.

John Sandel said...

Hmmm. There's no culvert connecting to the ballpark. I doubt this was from the spigots on the north rim. Maybe the ground got so full the rainfall had nowhere else to go. I hope the gophers had snorkels …

Ms M said...

It looks like a lake that has been there all along -- it also looks green, like SPRING! Fun to compare all of your photos of the same place.

Katie said...

Stunning to see Johnson field so lush and green and attracting ducks! Yep, a far cry from July's view though. But as pretty as things are right now, I'm ready for the rain to stop.

Bellis said...

I had to take a look as soon as I stepped off the plane. What an unusual sight! I think it's filling up because the river is now about 6 feet higher than the field, and it's changed its course to come really close, with only a footpath's separation. A white egret and some ducks were enjoying the new lake and, hopefully, the gophers managed to swim to safety.

Looking forward to a "dog and duck" weekend.

Petrea Burchard said...

I hadn't thought about the gophers. Poor things. I think they had plenty of time to find higher ground, though, as the field's been squishy for quite some time.

Because of tonight's events I changed course for tomorrow, Bellis, but if nothing comes up we'll have some wet pictures Sunday.

pasadenapio said...

Habitat for honkers.

On second thought, ducks quack.

Habitat for quackers doesn't quite have the same ring.

Dina said...

That's very exciting.
Watch out for the sharks.

TheChieftess said...

Aren't we all glad this isn't a soccer field under all that water???

A great photo for your campaign Petrea!!!

Susan Campisi said...

The difference really is amazing. Look at those clouds! I'm sorry I didn't visit Hahamongna on such a glorious (perfect word for it) day.

Petrea Burchard said...

Chieftess, this isn't the planned soccer field area. That area is even lower ground, believe it or not.

Susan, cloudy, rainy days are often the best. Fewer people are out and the drama over the mountains is yours to behold.

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

Where's Sept. 2010,November 2010, Dec. 2010, Jan 2011, February 2011?

Probably too cold. It's okay. Just ignore me...but just in case you have them and they somehow didn't get posted, that's all I mean.

Petrea Burchard said...

You'll see my other comments but this photo was not part of the "Last Day" project.

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

Oh, I see you're right. I'm a bit confused when I clicked on the patch link you posted...this showed up in the series.

Have a look: http://bit.ly/vOD6Od

Perhaps the tags?

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

"I've been taking pictures of Johnson Field for a long time. I did a project on Pasadena Daily Photo called "Last Day," where I posted a photo taken of the field from the same angle once a month for a year, to show seasonal changes. At the time I didn't know the field would become a dump.
Here's the link, for those who are interested:" http://bit.ly/vOD6Od

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

http://altadena.patch.com/articles/hahamongna-s-johnson-field-before-and-after-photos?ncid=following_comment#photo-8360743

Petrea Burchard said...

Yeah, unfortunately you can't just chose a set of photos; when you use tags you get them all.

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

Okay, I know this is way out of line for me to suggest this, but could you or would you consider doing a special post of all of the months of the year in one place for that project?

I think it's worthwhile.

Petrea Burchard said...

emailing.

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

Wow. This is the only photo with water. I am even more confused. I thought 2009-2010 was wet and there was all the drama about the Station Fire run-off. Maybe that's how the permit was achieved to dump on Johnson. It looks pretty dry and barren in your project. Did the big rain not come until early this year? I think my head is too full of stuff. I better go sluice.

Thank you, P.

Pi...feel free to erase my comments.

Petrea Burchard said...

You are correct. However:

Pasadena Water & Power controls where the water goes in the spreading basins at Hahamongna and Johnson Field is a spreading basin. Rain or no rain is almost irrelevant. The fact that you didn't see water in Johnson Field very often before the spring of 2011 would be because PWP didn't use that basin, not because there wasn't enough rain. There was plenty of water in the other basins. There are drains and sluices between basins so PWP can direct the water from one to another at will. I had never seen water in Johnson Field before March of 2011, but I didn't move to Pasadena until September of 2005 so it may have happened before then.

The Station Fire was in the fall of 2009. Heavy rains came down that winter (2009/2010), then again last winter (2010/2011).

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

Well, that's interesting! I have a tape of Dr. LB Nye from the Regional Water Quality Control Board saying that EPA other regulations are imposed protect areas even when there is a period of time when no water is in them. As long as it is a waterbody or in a watershed... it's still protected. Someone had to have told that agency that it was always dry? What a lie.

That's a good question to ask the new Director of Pasadena Public Works!

Petrea Burchard said...

Feel free to use this picture.

The drain or sluice or pipe into this basin is at the north end, across from the little badminton field basin--you know the one? At the time Johnson Field was full, that little basin was full, too. Perhaps it was used as the conduit for water from basins further north. I'm not quite sure how they do it but I know that when they want to they can drain a basin, leaving the one next to it completely full.