Thursday, November 24, 2011

Lincoln Heights: Blessings


While in Lincoln Heights we stopped at Sacred Heart Church (est. 1897) for a few minutes and listened to the high school kids sing. The church was packed. It was noon-ish on a Wednesday. It was hard not to be charmed.

Sacred Heart School is across from the church. Karin tells the story of the mural here. It's about family and community, lives long and short and intertwined.

Manny estimates Lincoln Heights to be about 70% Hispanic (mostly of Mexican heritage), 20% Asian and 10% "everything else." Surely I'm generalizing, but 70% Hispanic/mostly Mexican is likely to mean a lot of Catholics.

Many of the markets in Lincoln Heights (except the Asian ones) have a representation of Our Lady of Guadalupe painted on the exterior. Always a lot of color; always Our Lady.



PLUS I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT to include this in yesterday's post about Lincoln Heights architecture!

I haven't forgotten it's Thanksgiving, no indeed. I'm thankful every day for too many things to mention. Really, you don't want me to start. Once I get started I think of more and I can't stop.

So I'll just say here and in keeping with this post that I'm thankful for the diversity in our world and our nation, not to mention in Los Angeles and Pasadena and especially in my neighborhood of Northwest Pasadena. What a great place to live.

Happy Thanksgiving! May you have many blessings to count.

25 comments:

Lydia said...

I just enjoyed your comment over at Paris Daily Photo and realized I had lost track of you.

These are great shots that really give me a feeling for Lincoln Heights.

Happy Thanksgiving, Petrea!

Shell Sherree said...

Such gregarious colours! I'm grateful to see this spot on the other side of the world through your eyes, Petrea. Happy Thanksgiving to you, J. and Boz.

sonia a. mascaro said...

A Very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I enjoy this post!

Mister Earl said...

It's the Yellow Submarine building! Happy Thanksgiving!

Petrea Burchard said...

Hi Lydia! Nice to see you again. I don't remember what I said on ParisDP but I'm glad it brought you here.

Thanks for the Thanksgiving messages, Shell, Sonia and Mister Earl. I'm feeling grateful today for my loved ones, a cozy home and a space heater.

Anonymous said...

Hoping you and yours have an equally enjoyable celebration today with your family and friends that I will with mine!

Latino Heritage said...

La Virgen is ever present for so many reasons.
Great job on the mural. Now you know why I get hungry for color and take day trips back home.

Anonymous said...

Oh, your photo of the mural is so far superior to mine. Tho now that I have the class under my belt, over exposure will be a thing of the past. (Yeah, right.)

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Madge, I wish you the same!

Roberta, I never thought of it this way before but in some places I know there are regulations about what color you can paint your house, and the colors allowed usually cover the gamut between off-white and beige. It makes me wonder if it's unconscious (or even conscious) discrimination.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Karin. I saw those little girls coming and going and I waited for a good bunch. It's as though they tell the story of the mural and the mural tells their story, too.

Katie said...

I'm very much enjoying this tour through Lincoln heights. I too really like the mural photo - you got the perfect group of girs. (The alien lego building is odd for sure. Any clue who built it and why?) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

dive said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Petrea (and all in California).
I love the murals you guys have down there; they bring the streets alive.
Not too sure about the last building though (Katie's description is perfect).

Desiree said...

Delightful!

Steve Scauzillo said...

Great architectural examples. Thanks. Have a great day.

Petrea Burchard said...

Katie, I wish I had asked about that building. I don't know who created it. It's definitely different!

Dive, we do have a lot of great murals, especially in LA but even in Pasadena. Unfortunately, sometimes they get painted over when officials aren't paying attention.

Thanks, Desiree. Thank you, Steve.

Tom said...

The yellow building is the Lincoln Heights branch of LA Dept of Water & Power. Birds love the round portholes and build nests in the windows. There are some chairs and tables in the building that are considered as "art", costs thousands of dollars and are not used as chairs and tables.

Bellis said...

The LA Dept of Water and Power building? Thanks for the information, Tom. It's certainly funky architecture but I prefer the art deco one in yesterday's blog.

I'd love to know more about Our Lady of Guadalupe and her significance. She never gets tagged, does she?

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm walking the dog in the Arroyo. Where did you go?

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Tom. Here's the Wikimapia link for the yellow building.
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=34.0817551&lon=-118.2182229&z=18&l=0&m=b
I would love to see those chairs and tables you mention!

I've never seen her tagged, Bellis. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but I haven't seen it.

We just got back from a photo safari. Pictures forthcoming!

Ms M said...

I'm really enjoying our "trip" through Lincoln Heights, too. Love the variety and colors of the buildings.
A happy Thanksgiving to you and yours :-)

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Ms. M. I'm about to eat my final cookie of the day and call it a night.

Susan Campisi said...

I just caught up on the Lincoln Heights tour. Wow, you really did cover a lot of ground. Great photos. I love all the different styles of architecture.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm still stuffed.

Petrea Burchard said...

Oh, I could eat more. It's a curse.

-K- said...

I just can't get enough of Our Lady of Guadalupe murals.

Petrea Burchard said...

Kevin, did you ever see the one near my housethe one near my house?

So far it's my favorite.

Petrea Burchard said...

Well, you get the idea. apparently I like it A LOT.