Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Warm New Year's Wish

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on a cold night in 2011

To those from other places currently gracing Pasadena with your visit, be it for the holidays, the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Rose Bowl Game or merely lunch, welcome. 

I hope the weather warms up for you. A frosty night is no big deal in many parts of the world, but in Pasadena on New Year's Eve, if you camp out on Colorado Blvd., air horns and silly string are not going to keep you warm. 

Does anyone recall a (relatively) recent Tournament of Roses Parade when it rained? 2006, maybe. I remember those poor majorettes in their skimpy costumes, their booties filling with water, gamely tossing their batons but unable to catch them because the rain kept getting in their eyes. Everyone was freezing, even the horses. 

It won't be that way this year. The forecast says things will warm up a couple of degrees for Thursday, parade day. It'll be sunny, if a bit crisp. That's OK. When you're marching 5 miles, you tend to heat up. At least, so I imagine.

Happy 2015 to us all. I mean it.

*****

The "grandaddy of them all"—all City Daily Photo blogs, that is—has posted its final photo after ten years. Today Eric Tenin is retiring his groundbreaking Paris Daily Photo, which serves as an archive of inspiration to me and other bloggers. Thank you, Eric. I already miss you. 


Me and John atop Notre Dame Cathedral in May of 2006. We fell in love with Paris. About a month later I found Paris Daily Photo and I've been a fan ever since.


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fingers crossed for nice weather... best wishes for 2015.

Eric Baker said...

Back in my hometown of Holyoke, MA we have a similar parade siuation. Here it is the Saint Patrick's Day parade (3rd largest in the nation!). Being held in New England March we've had everything from 60s to blizzard. Back in the day I've walked it twice as a cougar mascot so yes I can empathize with your majorettes. On a historical side note hearing mention of the Tournament of Roses always reminds me of the War of the Roses. Have a happy, new-fangled 2015!!

William Kendall said...

Happy New Year, Petrea!

Unknown said...

Happy New Year, Petrea!

TheChieftess said...

Happy New Year Petrea, John and Wilma!!! Stay warm!!!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Chieftess! It's not all that hard to stay warm in Pasadena. Not usually, anyway!

Anonymous said...

What a great photo. Happy New Year.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Karin. If you're referring to the top photo, I was probably just shivering. If it's the bottom one, well, we had just climbed more than 400 stone steps. We were tired and very happy.

Katie said...

Wow, so cool to see that photo of you and John in Paris! I just found out that PDP posted it's final photo. So sad, but I'm so glad Eric started his blog (which of course led me to yours!). Here's to sun and warm-enough temps tomorrow for the parade. I'll try to wake up early enough to watch it. A very happy new year to you and John. Cheers!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Katie. Wish us luck in Pasadena tonight, it's already cold and I hope those camping out can stay warm!

Margaret said...

Happy New Year!

Ms M said...

Happy New Year to you, John & Wilma! Here's hoping 2015 is a good year for all!

Petrea Burchard said...

Your lips to god's ear, as they say!

Shell Sherree said...

A gorgeous piccie, indeed!! We met thanks to Eric's PDP {along with so many others} ~ for this and more, I'm very grateful. Happy New Year to you, John and Wilma, dear Petrea. May it be a beauty!

Petrea Burchard said...

Shell, Eric inspired me to blog in the first place. I met many people through my blog, locally and internationally, and I have him to thank for it.

I wish us all a wonderful new year!

Pasadena Adjacent said...

those little light squiggles for JPL remind me of a multitude of Tinkerbelles

HNY - 2015

Petrea Burchard said...

They do! I hadn't thought of that. HNY to you, too.

Rob Siemann said...

Happy new year to you!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Rob the frog, Happy new year to you!

irinapictures said...

Happy New Year, Petrea!
And thank you for news about Eric, now I will go to say my big "thank you" to him for the brilliant idea which presented me with so many great friends.

Petrea Burchard said...

He certainly deserves our thanks, Irina.

Dina said...

I love these two pictures.
Happy new year, you two.

I've heard good things about Malta. Still, it's a big move for Eric.

Petrea Burchard said...

Happy new year to you, Dina. I think Eric's been preparing for his move to Malta for a long time. Still, the change must be dramatic.

jmgrimes said...

Here's a fun bit of irony: the picture of JPL at night was blocked by - JPL network security!
Happy New Year!