Does the weather affect your mood? I like a rainy day because I like to stay indoors with the heater on. I like a hot day because I like going without a sweater or even sleeves. I liked yesterday because it was cool without being cold; we'd had rain on Sunday and yesterday the world smelled good.
Lovely light, Petrea! I definitely feel a bit chirpier on sunny days, whether hot or cold. Though scones on a rainy day ... that's good, too.
ReplyDeleteAh, I love the way you say so much with so few words and show so much in one picture. Keep liking and keep enjoying each breath of your California air, Petrea!
ReplyDeleteThey say we're gonna warm up!-(not super high)... our Cali weather has really been a surprise this year!.
ReplyDeleteThat's a Southern California postcard. The rain was a real treat. I liked when it stopped too, so I didn't have to deal with wet, soggy dogs anymore.
ReplyDeleteHome sweet home. Thanks for this glimpse at our former life!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful photo! I like the cooler weather (so long as the sun shines) because it rejuvenates my dog, who's suddenly willing to go on long hikes without complaining.
ReplyDeleteWhat nice messages to wake up to! You all seem to be in a good mood. Today looks like another beautiful day. Right now from my office window I see sun on quiet trees, with wild movement in only one of them--busy squirrel.
ReplyDeleteBen, I took this right by your old place. But I think you know that.
Glad you are enjoying the weather and the scents after the rain. I'm with Susan, this is archetypal SoCal. I imagine when the ranchos were the order of the day, the palms did not figure into the scene. I wonder who brought them to LA/Pasadena/Orange County/Santa Barbara? After I'd moved away from Anaheim there was a terrible fire in which quite a few of these palms burned like tiki torches in the Santa Ana Wind. Palms and chaparral and blue skies, ah.
ReplyDelete-Kim
That's so lovely!
ReplyDeleteRE: weather and moods: Rainy days bring out contemplation; bright sunny days -- energy and action; beauty at sunrise/sunset bring reflection. And a good storm is exciting (as long as no one is harmed).
Hi Kim, if I had to guess I'd say the movie people brought the palms. But that's only conjecture.
ReplyDeleteWe are strongly affected by weather, are we not, Ms. M? We can build all the shelters we like, but it's still in our bones.
Tree at my window, window tree,
ReplyDeleteMy sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.
Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,
And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.
That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.
(R. Frost, 1928)
I just learned about the palm trees the other day when I picked up a leaflet at the Wrigley Mansion, built between 1906 and 1914 by George W. Stimson and his son. Stimson loved trees, especially palm trees, and planted hundreds of them in Pasadena, including the lovely palm avenue in your photo. His front garden had so many palm trees that Mrs Wrigley called her house "The Shadows." A wind storm in 1930 blew many of them down, but some are still there.
ReplyDeleteI like it cold, wet and dreary--a wonderful excuse to putter or read or cook. I like it crisp and blue.
ReplyDeleteHeat slays me. I wither.
Now that is what I call a 'classic' California scene. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love it when the sun is warm while the air is cool. I don't like it when it's bitter cold overnight (by SoCal standards).
ReplyDeleteThis image could have been part of a film....
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful and exotic!
Love the poetry, J.
ReplyDeleteBellis, does the leaflet say if Stimson imported the trees to southern California? Now I'm curious.
I'm glad I posted this. It's such an everyday scene around here I almost didn't.
The red light on the trees is such a lovely, natural complement to their usual green.
ReplyDeleteStimson employed an English landscaper to source the trees, but Mexican palms were already here. There's one that predates Stimson on Huntington Drive. I should think the Spanish brought them up from Mexico.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you have palms around your house, the location scouts don't want it.
Did I just hear you on a Pasadena Water and Power Centenary ad on the radio?
At the end of most days, Speedway, the sunset gives the mountains a pink glow.
ReplyDeleteGreat history, Bellis! And reasons to plant palms.
No, that wasn't me. Shoot.
Sigh, I could look at this classic scene all day. Takes me right back to the west, warm weather, mountains...everything good!
ReplyDeleteI can be happy in just about any weather. I love the rain. I'm not too keen on the extreme heat.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I need to get us a photo of a nice convertible.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! The mountains are stunningly crisp. You mean you didn't take this photo from a convertible? I try to not let the weather affect my mood (although I cursed plenty during the winters I spent in Minnesota), but nothing beats a sunny warm day with a nice breeze.
ReplyDeleteSounds like part of a good "Irish Blessing" - days filled with sun on on quiet trees. Just fresh enough to be a sweet bit of calm on a fresh air day.
ReplyDeleteAs I scrolled down the page and so started at the top of the palms I thought I was in menton. In front of the old town, there is a long walkway with tall palms either side. Very strange feeling. I thought you must be visiting me ... I wish.
ReplyDeleteI keep threatening to visit Menton, Jilly! I would love that.
ReplyDelete