I would be into urban exploration if I wasn't terrified of being caught and arrested, or even just embarrassed. UE is a sport for kids in athletic shoes and baggy pants--grown women aren't supposed to crawl around in abandoned buildings.
But I have some baggy pants. I wear athletic shoes (I have to, or else my feet hurt). And I love exploring the places society has left behind.
Not that this place will be abandoned forever. I'm glad Pasadena's reclaiming it. (Look what I found over at PasadenaDigitalHistory.com.)
It was fun taking pictures where the ghosts linger. I didn't have to sneak, I wasn't afraid of getting caught and I got to wear my grown-up pants.
19 comments:
For me, it's the sunlight on the floor that ties it all together.
Grown-Up Pants: The Petrea Burchard Story …
You sure have fun!. So if you have 'grown up pants'.. do kids wear 'childish pants'? (just pulling your leg)....:-) I love old buildings as well... I loved the old hotels in S.M. some they kept others....were destroyed along w/the history.
Needed the chuckle. I like the photograph, too.
Me too, K. Got down on the floor for this one.
Thank you, J! Now that we have the title, I just have to come up with something to put in the autobiography.
KBF, I remember those old hotels! We came here to the coast on vacation. It's very different now than it was in the 1960's.
Thanks, Jean. Sometimes I need to lighten up.
HeeHee!!! I can't wait for the autobiography!!!
Loving your tour of the elegantly wasted building, Petrea.
Put me down for a copy of 'Grown Up Pants.'
There is something about old buildings that speaks to me. This photo was a shout!
Looks like a house I bought on a whim in Durham while my husband was traveling. I wept on the day I moved in, on seeing the bones exposed, but it was the best house we've ever lived in once it was restored. And this building will be a Pasadena treasure once it gets some TLC.
I should probably move on tomorrow but maybe I'll post one more shot of the interior of the YWCA. Apparently there were squatters for a while, homeless people, and some of their decorations were still up when we toured the place.
"exploring the places society has left behind" Perfect! I've always loved this kind of stuff. You see these buildings, so large and once-grand, and wonder what they look like inside. Thanks so much - don't move on just yet.
Suspenders:the sequel .
The place was screaming for photographers during the two tours, and you did it proud.
And those ghosts left some messages behind! I'm going to have a post about that in a couple of days, after my latest Mystery History (Solved!) has run its course.
There was graffiti. I'm leaving it to others, I did graffiti on Monday.
Okay, one more tomorrow then I'll move on. The place is a photographer's dream. Here's what Roberta Martinez posted, thought she says she's not a photographer:
http://pasadenalatina.blogspot.com/2012/07/juxtaposition.html
Now I must go check out Mystery History, a tad late.
Just came from PA's place. They've got to save this. And in a strange way, I kind of like it just the way it is now.
There are many unexplored places even in the crowds of tourists and commuters.
I like it, too, Hiker. And I think it will be saved. I don't know if you read the other posts; with an eye toward saving it the City Council took it over from its slothful owner via eminent domain, which I think was an excellent move.
Rath, you have an eye for surprises. I'd love visit Cambridge someday and take a photo safari with you.
My late wife Helen lived in the Y for a while before we were married. Her room was on the second floor facing west. She shared the room with others. I think they cooked in a communal kitchen.
This could have been her room, Sid, though I almost hate to say it. The rooms we were able to see were those on the second floor facing west. The kitchen I saw is on the main floor at the back, facing onto the courtyard. It's in relatively good shape.
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