I don't have to buy them anything.

Large, hairless dog has an idea.

Small, brown dog has a thought.

Yikes!

Hairless dog is a genius!

Big dog enjoys himself as much as small dog does.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Recession Fence

Grants are hard to come by these days.

Just kidding. I like the works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. I drove up to see their Umbrellas when they were in the Grapevine. It's hard to describe the impact of a work that's made not for language but for the senses. People stopped alongside the freeway to look, no one was talking and we were all smiling.

So as you can see, this photo does not depict a Christo/Jeanne-Claude work.

The Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee meets tonight at 6PM in the second floor training room of the public works building at the City Yards, 233 W. Mountain St. There's plenty of parking and the signs directing you to the room are easy to follow. Come listen, learn and help me decipher the politicspeak.


(Inspiration for the Christo/Jeanne-Claude idea: John Sandel)

It Doesn't Take Much

Boz doesn't care about petty politics. He doesn't know about choices, good or bad. He likes to run in open spaces and Johnson Field is fine with him just as it is.

"Boz," I said, "the field is a dumping ground for silt!"

Boz likes silt.

Not the Last Day, After All

Word has it that the Devil's Gate Dam interim silt removal project is complete. If so, all the silt has been moved to Johnson Field from the dam. For now.

It's not the whole project by a long shot. There will be an environmental impact report before the rest of the work is done. I don't know how long that'll take or what the end result will look like, but it will be a much larger project.

Here's how Johnson Field looked last Saturday at dusk. Not nearly as bad as I'd feared. I took the photo from my usual spot, so those of you familiar with PDP's Last Day Project could make comparisons even if you've never seen Johnson Field in person.

A pan to the left:

It's a bit dark, but I hope you can see in both photos that the trees have been spared. Basically, the county workers piled the silt neatly at the north end of the sunken basin that is Johnson Field. The silt took up about half the space. Room for more silt in the future, I guess.

I have a list of disappointments related to this work, but those disappointments are (mostly) not with LA County. There's plenty of time for it to get worse but so far, the work they've done has been more sensitive than I expected. We even saw a few toads at the fountain. With a little rain we'll soon have some nice weeds growing in the silt. Maybe wildflowers.

We were treated to spectacular skies that night. More pictures to come.

The Best Laid Pipes

Boz and I had planned to hike yesterday. We were going to head to Johnson Field, where this pipe stands. Or stood. We're not sure. A lot's been going on at Johnson Field lately, and for all we know this above-ground access to water has been buried under the mounds of silt being moved from behind Devil's Gate Dam to what we hope is temporary storage in Johnson Field.

But we didn't find out for sure last night, as we had to postpone our hike. We'll find out later today, though, and bring you a report.

Fun news for the meantime: the September issue of Pasadena Magazine features the Dena's daily photo bloggers. For her article, "Daily Affirmations," Kelly Shimabukuro interviewed me, Laurie Allee (Glimpses of South Pasadena), Kat Likkel (Pasadena, 91105 and Beyond) and our already sorely missed Ben Wideman (The Sky is Big in Pasadena and wherever else he goes). Thank you, Kelly!

It was Ben who turned me on to our newest daily photo blogger. She's a bit anonymous, but she's got style. Check out All Over Pasadena.

Phase I

Remember our Last Day Project? For one year, on the last day of every month we stood in this spot at Hahamongna Watershed Park and looked out over Johnson Field, watching it change with the seasons.

A few hundred yards away, Devil's Gate Dam was backing up with sediment. After years of neglect plus a Station Fire and two seasons of heavy rain, the sediment must now be removed. Much discussion has ensued about how to do so, and it looks like a two-phase plan will soon begin. In order to pacify those who don't want debris-laden trucks on their street, the first phase could involve LA County piling sediment in Johnson Field as soon as the annual toad population clears out.

Toads hang out in wet places. They're about the size of a thumbnail and the color of a pebble. Because they run and hide when I come near them the pictures I've gotten are lousy, but Walt Mancini of the Pasadena Star-News got a good one. The toads will go away when the water dries. It's drying now.

I'm glad the County is willing to wait for the toads to leave. Let's be honest, these little guys are being saved long enough to get eaten by snakes and coyotes, but that's better for the ecosystem than a pile of sediment. Then again, a pile of sediment is better for a city than a failed dam in a flood.

So it looks like we might have a decent compromise, at least for now. Nobody gets everything they want but everybody gets something. That's democracy, and it's beautiful when it works. The coyotes and snakes will need to go somewhere when the trucks come. They know all about compromise. They'll likely end up in the yards of the people who didn't want trucks on their street. Are coyotes in the yard better than trucks on the street? If you live alongside Hahamongna, you may not have a choice.

I'm not crazy about piling sediment in Johnson Field, but I'm crazy about compromise. It's the only way unless we want a monarchy, and I wouldn't vote for that.

There will be a Phase II.

The next meeting of the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee will take place at 6pm this coming Tuesday, July 26th at the Pasadena City Yards - Training Room, 233 West Mountain Street, Second Floor, Pasadena 91103. On the agenda: Update on the LACDPW Post Station Fire Sediment Removal Project.

Aquatic Creatures

Remember the Last Day Project? Once a month for a year, I posted a photo taken from this spot, to catch the changing of the seasons. Never once did I catch anything like this. Go ahead, click the link and scroll down. The difference is amazing.

Johnson Field's been soggy lately, but in my five and a half years in Pasadena I've never seen it flooded. And look! Ducks! I may declare tomorrow and Sunday "Duck Weekend" and post more photos of them.

Hahamongna was glorious, wet and chilly yesterday morning, just the way the ducks like it. By the way, dogs like it that way, too. Maybe I'll make it "Dog Weekend." I can't decide.

Either way, we expect more rain today and tomorrow. By Sunday, we'll probably have manta rays and sharks out there.

Last Day, August 2010

It's the last day of Last Day. We've visited this spot at Hahamongna Watershed Park overlooking Johnson Field twelve times now, on the last day of each month, for a year.

I stole the idea from Marley of Cheltenham Daily Photo, though I know other photographers have done such studies of the seasons. (We do have seasons here, albeit subtle ones.) To view the other photos in the series, click the Last Day Project label below.

The end of August is early for autumn to arrive in Pasadena and it may change: just two days ago it was blazing summer. But yesterday as we walked the trails at Hahamongna, John and I remarked that the late day cool had a tinge of fall in it.

This photo suits me for the end of the Last Day project. The dry, mowed field looks ready for the crunch of autumn boots. The mountains' graded shadows say end of day, end of season, end of cycle. Yet fall has always felt to me like a beginning--a new school, a new plan, a new chance. The cooler air brings a whiff of change.

Last Day, July 2010

The Last Day Project has its merits, though I admit I'm losing interest. If you're new here, Last Day is an idea I borrowed from Marley, a blogger from Cheltenham, England, who for one year posted a monthly photo of the same downtown corner in Cheltenham. It was fun to share the changes of season with Marley's followers.

I think my ardor for my own version of this project began to wane when the little tree was mowed down sometime around May 5th.

But I'm committed. I'll stick it out. We have one month to go. And if you click on the Last Day Project label below, you can see there have indeed been changes at Johnson Field over the past 11 months.

Last Day, June 2010

June marks the tenth month of the Last Day Project. The idea is to take a photo from the same vantage point on or about the end of each month, and view the changes over a year's time.

If you click the link above or the "Last Day" label below, you'll see Johnson Field is drying out now as it always does in summer. By September it'll be entirely parched.

I think this proves to the rest of the world that southern California actually has seasons.

Last Day, May 2010

Our Last Day location is sorely lacking now that our little tree's been mowed down. I put together all the photos I've taken at the Last Day location this month, and there wasn't a single one I really liked. I see how the tree framed the shot. Now there's an empty space on the left side of the picture and it's just not much of a photo anymore. I miss that tree.

I said I'd stick with the Last Day Project for a year and I will. We have June, July and August to go. Anything can happen.

It's appropriate for us to feel sorely lacking of something beloved on Memorial Day. Trees will grow again.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Since September, 2009 we've been checking in at the same spot on the last day of every month to see if southern California actually has seasons. We've noted slight variations. "Subtle" isn't normally the word one uses when speaking of southern California, but it applies in certain situations. My plan is to keep taking photos at this spot through August, giving us one year of views.

I missed April 30th's Last Day post because I was in the throes of computer hell. But as I've returned to computer heaven I can catch up and post these two shots. The one above was taken May 4th. The grass (full of what the locals call nettles, my socks can attest) is high and dry.

I took the photo below yesterday, May 6th, with my iPhone. The mowers have come.
They have to mow. The grasses, pretty as they are, pose a fire danger.

At first I was angry to see my little tree mowed down. But I think it must have been an accident. It's not my tree, really. I miss it, though.


Update: 5/10/10--
the Pasadena City Council will NOT be discussing soccer fields at Hahamongna tonight, as originally planned. The issue is scheduled to be revisited at the Council's June 7th meeting.

Last Day, March 2010

Every time I take one of these Last Day photos I think, "This project was a crazy idea. The view is the same every time." Then I compare the shot to the others and I'm amazed how a place that supposedly has no seasons can change so much in so little time.

Johnson Field is looking a bit shaggy. I love that.

Click the Last Day Project tag below to see them all and compare.

Last Day, February 2010

Johnson Field, 2/21/2010

Here's my most recent shot of our Last Day location. As an experiment, we've been checking in to this spot monthly since last September to view the subtle (or not) changes to one spot over a one-year period. To see all the Last Day posts so far, click on the Last Day Project label below.

The photo is representative of Pasadena's weather this weekend: cloudy and wet--though believe it or not, not quite wet enough. We've had more rainfall this season than in recent years but the drought's still on.

We've got some catching up to do. If the rain keeps up like it was today, however, I believe we can do it.

Last Day, January 2010

Johnson Field looks green after rain, doesn't it?

I took this photo January 23rd. At left, John and Boz face off. At right, a father and his kids play ball. It was inevitable that the twain should meet.

After I took the shot I walked to the drinking fountain and met Jodie, the mom of the ball-playing family. We had a connection: she's the photographer and blogger at The Four Seasons, another Pasadena blog (we have a plethora of great blogs and bloggers in Pasadena). Not only that, Jodie's husband Steve is THE Steve--you know Steve, right? No? Well, Steve had extensive information for me about my Woodbury Creek post, and as a born and bred Pasadenamanian he's loaded with local lore.

We have such cool people here. I love that I photographed this meeting just before it happened. To compare Last Day photos, click the Last Day Project tag below.

Last Day, December 2009

On the last day of September I began this monthly theme: a photo of the same spot from the same angle. The idea is to view it at different seasons and watch it change over time.

I've taken lots of pictures from this spot overlooking Johnson Field at Hahamongna Watershed Park. I chose this for one today because of the blue tint of the sky. I probably just hadn't white-balanced the camera, but I like the photo. It's end-of-yearly.

I could say many things about 2009, but I'll just say I've learned a lot and I'm glad it's over. I hope 2010 will be better for everyone. I wish you a joyous, healthy and prosperous new year.

To view the progression of the Last Day posts so far, click on the "Last Day Project" label below.

Last Day, November 2009

I can't fool you. It's not the last day of November. But tomorrow is Zen Monday and I'm not about to mess with that.

So to continue our experimental monthly look across Johnson Field, let's see if anything's changed.

Hmm. Looks like the Psychocross fanatics got their rudders stuck.

I kid. The local Cyclocross riders train here sometimes. They're nice. Insane but nice. Dog-friendly. Could be a little freaky if you're on horseback. But there's room for everybody.

Last Day, October 2009

October 23, 5:18pm

The idea of the project I started last month is to take a picture from the same spot and post it periodically, then watch as the spot changes throughout the year. I plan to post on the last day of each month, but since tomorrow's Halloween, this time I'm a day early.

The view looks across Johnson Field at Hahamongna Watershed Park. The logs in the foreground were put there by a team of bicycle riders who use them for practice. The nearest foothills were spared in the Station Fire, but the mountains in the background are as yet bare of vegetation and will probably be that way for a while.

We had a couple of days of steady rain last month. Makes a difference, doesn't it?

You stay at this blogging thing long enough, and you can just link to yourself.

Last Day, September 2009

5/29/09, 4:00 p.m.

I have this idea, but it's not my idea. I don't suppose there's any way of knowing who did it first. Monet did it with haystacks. Went back and painted them again and again in different seasons and different light.

8/22/09, 6:01 p.m.

But I'm no Monet. I might be more like Marley of Cheltenham Daily Photo-Marley (as opposed to Cheltenham Daily Photo-Lynn). Marley, a fellow City Daily Photo blogger, started his Changing View posts in September of 2008 and ran them monthly for a year, giving his visitors a busy street corner in all its seasons.

9/11/09, 6:08 p.m.

The most striking example I've seen is this gallery by J?r?me Chom? (that's how it looks at pbase) at pbase.com. I can't stop looking at it. It's the kind of work I want to be able to do.

9/28/09, 10:48 a.m.

I've found a spot I like. I can get there often enough to shoot it in its differing seasons and times of day. I'll stop posting when you get tired of them, which may be sooner, but I'll keep shooting until I get tired of them, which may be later. Last day of the month, starting now.

Apparently, Johnson Rocks

Who is Johnson? How does he rate a field?

Oh, I looked, but I did not find. Much. Besides repeated mentions of Johnson Field ("an inactive spreading basin...used for passive recreational uses"), I found nothing but this interesting LA times article from 1992. The article discusses early plans for Hahamongna Watershed Park and a disagreement about putting soccer fields there. At the end there's a brief mention of Johnson field: "a small baseball field built by city employees for a municipal soccer league." I think he meant it was originally built as a soccer field but by the time of the article it was used more as a baseball field.

The article said all parties agreed the field should be eliminated. It's still there, after a fashion, although they finally stopped watering it this year. Makes sense. Drought + rarely used field - water = savings (or at least common sense).

So I found out that much. But I still don't know who Johnson is, or how he rates a field. Or a rock, for that matter.