Those Details the Devil Is In

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has completed its draft 20-year Sediment Management Strategic Plan for 2012-2032. The public comment period ends Wednesday, May 30th--which is vague, as they don't say if they mean 8am or 6pm or what--so I'd comment no later than the 29th if I were you at the first email address on this page. I understand the main document is over 500 pages, but a condensed version entitled "Community Meeting Boards" (second-to-last link at the right of the main Strategic Plan page) is said to give a good overview. 

Let's speak up. I understand the Devil's Gate Dam needs to be protected. I want to make sure Hahamongna is protected, too.  

A separate issue, but also important:

The Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee meets the fourth Tuesday of odd-numbered months--except this month, due to lack of a quorum. So the committee didn't get to talk about the upcoming community meetings to discuss the Environmental Impact Report schedule for the Hahamongna Multi-Benefit Project and the Hahamongna Basin Multi-Use Project.

But hey! We can talk about them here, regardless of the unfortunate mouthful of misleading names.

Because I want to get this right I'm going to quote Mary Barrie of Friends of Hahamongna, who has long been a tireless advocate for open space at Hahamongna Watershed Park. Mary's one of those heroes who reads the fine print, calls a lawyer, compares last year's map to this year's and helps the rest of us attempt to keep the city honest when it comes to Hahamongna:

"One of the important items on the agenda of last night's cancelled Hahamongna Advisory meeting was information concerning the Environmental Impact Report schedule for the Hahamongna Multi-Benefit Project and the Hahamongna Basin Multi-Use Project. Among the projects included within the Multi-Benefit Project are the much contested Sycamore Grove Sports Field and the expanded parking lot so please mark your calendars for these important meetings and pass this information on. The following information is from the city website.

Mary B"

Multi-Benefit - Multi-Use Project

EIR Schedule – the following has been scheduled:

Wednesday, June 27th, 6:30pm – Community Meeting
Pasadena City Yards, 2nd floor Large Conference Room
This meeting WILL NOT kick off the CEQA process. The purpose of the meeting is to provide information only.

Thursday, July 12th, 6:30pm – EIR Scoping Meeting #1
Salvation Army Fellowship Hall, 960 East Walnut, Pasadena, CA 91106
(Parking lot is entered from Mentor, south of Walnut)

Saturday, July 14th, 10:00am – EIR Scoping Meeting #2
Salvation Army Fellowship Hall, 960 East Walnut, Pasadena, CA 91106
(Parking lot is entered from Mentor, south of Walnut)

The Sycamore Grove Field is the same soccer field so many citizens have protested for so long. A couple of years ago we even organized a local blog day, where 23 bloggers posted their arguments for saving Hahamongna. At the ensuing city council meeting, hundreds of Pasadenish spoke out against athletic fields at Hahamongna. Not one person spoke in favor of them. Yet Sycamore Grove Field is still planned, even as the city cuts the budget in other areas.

The meetings listed above will cover other things too, some of which may be good for Hahamongna. It's always complicated, never easy, but it's ours and we do have a say.

Update 5/29: Altadena Hiker Karin Bugge writes about the planned Sycamore Grove Field in today's Patch.

We Mosey

Slow is the new normal for our walks with Boz. He's never been the fastest canine on a leash, but now his pace is positively regal.

He can spend a good deal of time with his nose in a bush, delicately licking its boughs. (Some things we don't allow him to lick.) He's always considerate enough to leave a little something for the next dog to sniff. His pleasures these days are as many as they've always been, but his tastes are more refined and he takes his time enjoying things. Sometimes he just stops and smells the air for a while.

Needless to say our walks are not what I'd call exertion for humans. A trip around the block can take nearly an hour. It is, however, time well spent in the very best company.

Commute, 5

If I take the right fork and continue on Beverly Blvd. I'll be in downtown Los Angeles in a few minutes. But I don't do that. I follow the straight arrow (straight arrow, that's me) onto Silver Lake Blvd. and head home.

Where these two roads meet I pass the Ambassador Dog and Cat Hospital, which has an interesting vintage sign. I've driven past this place many times and until yesterday I never saw anyone enter or leave the place. But sure enough, they had a customer. In fact, if you look at their reviews their average isn't great, but all their recent reviews (like, in the past year) are five-star. A change in staff, maybe?

It doesn't matter much to Boz because I don't take him to work with me very often. But sometimes I do. It's good to have a back-up plan.

Summer Gap

 

Another shadow shot, I realize. This one is more of the high noon variety than yesterday's expression of the eclipse. 

We're having warmer days, which I like. I've been barefoot several times already (atch-ootch-eetch); you can tell by looking at our bathtub. 

My favorite thing about summer besides the heat is the slowing of the pace of business. Fewer obligations. Around here, people don't seem to plan as much (maybe because it's hot?) and I have more time for my own work. 

What's your favorite thing about summer?

Partial Eclipse of the Tree

Surely you know about Sunday's solar eclipse. The internet was lit up with it and people all over the world took stunning photos. It was exciting here in Pasadena, too, where the eclipse was merely partial. When the moon got in the sun's way it altered our light, raking it low and gold across porches and lawns, and quieting the birds. Some of my neighbors took fine photos of the eclipse. I didn't manage one.

What cracks me up about this photo is the big shadows made by my ears.

Zen Monday: #197

I don't know.

That's why I post it on Monday. I'm hoping maybe you know.

A Day of One's Own

Today's the last day of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire so if you're going, read this later. Mornings are best. Afternoons get crowded. Though I admit, the crowds can be the best part.

I went again yesterday. You could say I like it a lot, and I'm just beginning to understand it. Many of the performers, if not most of them, are not paid. They rely on tips and the passing of the hat. They dress up and go out to Irwindale every weekend to participate in the atmosphere--to live in it--because they love to immerse themselves in another culture. It's not really the culture of the Renaissance. It's something else entirely.

What I wanted to do this time was experience it on my own terms, at my own pace. Sometimes when I'm with others, I know I'm holding them up so I don't take my time with the camera. I don't try different angles or settings, I don't watch for the right moment or search for the light or wait for the most interesting person to walk through a shot.

So yesterday I took my camera to the Faire, and no one else. The two of us had a wonderful time. There is an awful lot of smiling going on there.

As a younger woman I was much too self-conscious to do such a thing by myself, and even now I rarely get to spend a day wandering alone and taking photos. But I turned out to be pretty good company, and although I wasn't much of a conversationalist I had a wonderful time.

That and much, much dust up my nose.