Spring Cleaning

In the darkness, climb the wooden contraption that's as much stairway as ladder.

Here's one box full of important things. Here's another, filled with junk. Here's an empty one. Move them all aside.

Step over the holiday decorations.

Turn sideways to inch between Mother's old files and the shelf where the tax records wait out the five years before their shredded death.

The lair is there, corpses suspended almost in air, almost.

Someone needs to do some spring cleaning.

Garage Week: Pair

Our neighbors had to tear down an old garage and build a new one. That old thing was gross. But when you've got a pretty old garage like this, it's more in keeping with Pasadena's preservation mindset to keep it. That mindset is one reason why people come here, and stay.

I don't know what fascinates me about these little buildings. I think it's just that they're old, and people have kept them when they could. If you live in a neighborhood full of new houses, as I have done in the past, you don't get to see these all the time. That's too bad. There's a nostalgia about them.

So ends Garage Week here on the ol' PDP. I already have more garage pics in the queue, so we might do it again. I think I'll check my files and see if I've got enough photos for "Fence Week." Or maybe I'll get more specific and do "Gate Week." Or how about "Porch Light Week"?

Any suggestions?

Garage Week, Tidy

What do you think of this one? I like the neatness, and the color coordination. And the doors--there must be a history, a name for these doors.

Garage Week, the Gentry

A better photo could be made of this fabulous garage, but I was so afraid I'd be taken for a prowler that I snapped what I could get. I like this one. You could keep daddy's Bentley in there, and still have room for the horses!

Garage Week: Fixed

I used to love this one.

I still do. I would have kept the old doors. It could be they tried to and it wasn't possible. It's still a great garage. Plus, the house is a beauty.

Zen Monday #234

A special garage for Zen Monday of Garage Week.

Look closely,

and give us your impression.

Garage Week

The spring event you've all been waiting for is finally here! It's Garage Week on Pasadena Daily Photo!

Let's celebrate!

I would categorize this garage as "pretty." Pasadena has many pretty garages. Either that or I have strange taste. Or both! I have a load* of garage pictures, so let's explore a week of garages: pretty ones, strange ones, and pretty strange ones.

I even have a Zen garage for Monday.


*I mean it. I have a lot of garage pictures. Be nice, or we'll do two weeks.

Zen Monday: #182

I don't know. You tell me.

Zen Monday: #179

Even holiday Mondays are Zen Mondays. That's the day you tell me what the photo's about instead of the other way around.

The man whose life we celebrate today wasn't famous for his sense of humor, but he's said to have had one.

Garages, 4

I never cared much for garages before moving to Pasadena and I know why. It's because I never lived anywhere else where the garages were part of the architectural history. In other places I've lived the garages are all aluminum, each one with the same automatic door as the one across the street.

This one speaks for itself, I think. Look at that roofline.

Bonus: we get to continue, in a glancing way, our vintage automobile theme for one more day.

Garages, 3

Mild-mannered garage by day...

But by night, it's...
(cue 1950's scary movie music)

Garage! of! Evil!

Garages, 2

I thought doing a series on garages in Pasadena would be easy. My favorites are the old ones, some going back to the early part of the 20th century. (This does not impress the European readers or those on the east coast, but so be it.)

But it's hard to find a garage without a car or a garbage can in front of it, so I grabbed this shot hoping the purply-blue flowers might make it into a photo. I didn't notice until I got the picture onto my screen how interesting the garage is, regardless of the flowers. I love the complete individuality of the doors. Even the hinges don't match.

The fact that the padlock is painted the same color as the rest tells me these doors are rarely opened, if ever. I can't tell from the street, but this could be a storage space, or someone's studio or office, entered from the yard on the other side of the fence.

I hope they don't plan to "fix" those doors. They're perfect the way they are.

Garages, 1

I'm interested in garages. Maybe I'll do a series. You know, like my door series, of which I've posted--I think one, so far.

Let's begin with a comparison--the quirky vs. the new. I favor the quirky for its charm, but the new has advantages. In this case you can put an actual car in the new garage. The quirky looks like it's been converted for other uses. (Love that superfluous detail.)

I find a lot of interesting garages around town, both industrial and domestic. I saw an effusive purple one the other day. I love the old ones that look like barns. The domestic ones are tricky, though. Tell you what: I'll do a garage series if folks cooperate by hiding their garbage cans and parking their cars somewhere else. This might require changing a local law or two, but we can work together on it.

Fall Color

We had fall for about two days. Now it's summer again. Today we expect triple digit temperatures.

I like it hot.

Yesterday I dug a hole in the back yard because I intend to plant a tree. I'm no fool; I like it hot but I wouldn't dig a hole today. I wouldn't plant a tree today, either. I want to give the poor thing a chance.

I don't know what kind of tree it'll be. It should be no more than about 25 feet tall because of electrical wires it must avoid as well as hide. And it should be a good shade tree that doesn't need to be watered too much once it's established. It could be a fruit tree. It could be deciduous. It should be an interesting tree. I don't ask much.

None of this has anything to do with the photo. What can you say about a couple of garage doors?

Symmetrical

Here's my favorite loading dock in Pasadena.

Now there's a sentence you don't hear every day.

Rusty Hinge

It's been gloomy here lately in the early part of the day. Ben called it May Gray. I've also heard it referred to as June Gloom. Guess it depends on the date. Usually the gloom burns off in the afternoon but it didn't yesterday. We had actual rain. Well, not actual rain by some peoples' standards. Not rain if you live in, say, Illinois. But rain by southern California standards.

I enjoy a cozy day to stay in and do housework and write. But I think Boz suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder. When he can't go out and lie in the sun he's seriously bummed.

I took this photo across the street from this one, on Locust just west of Allen on the south side of the street. I didn't take it yesterday.