Hahamongna Detail Week, 2

Boz doesn't always look up when we're at Hahamongna. He's got his nose on the ground, where the smells are. But if he did look up, he'd see hawks, owls, herons, and many other birds, including the endangered Least Bell's Vireo.


This week, Boz is giving you a tour of Hahamongna Watershed Park to show you some of his favorite details. I'll check in and respond to comments as much as possible. It shouldn't be too hard. I hope you're having a week full of wonders.

Thank You, Chicken Little

When a tree on our street began dropping large, random branches, we called the city. While we await the inspector's visit, the neighbor girls and I are concerned about what happens when the next branch falls. So we got out the markers and construction paper.

I don't think it was the sign above that warned off these neighbors because it's on the wrong side of the tree for them to see.

They crossed the street in time to be out of harm's way. It might have been this sign that warned them.

 

Or maybe it was these dire warnings, which they saw on their approach.

For help with city-owned trees on your block, call Pasadena's Urban Forestry division at Parks and Natural Resources, 744-4321.


Update: 

A crew of great guys came out within 48 hours of my phone call. They removed the branches that had come down and mulched them on the spot. They told us they don't park their cars under trees when the weather gets hot like it's been lately. Any tree, not just a liquid ambar, can drop a branch. The guys said they'd send an inspector out, just to make sure there were no other problems with the tree.

My neighbor (whose daughters made the signs) asked the crew what to do about a branch dangling over her driveway; it had been damaged by a truck and it threatened to come down. They sent a man up in the cherry-picker and snip-snip! Problem solved.

Wonderful work, gentlemen! Thank you.

Oxymora

The last bit of sunlight bleeds off the treetops even as the moon rises. Opposites uniting in the natural world to make a thing of beauty.

You can find online lists of oxymora (nice word, that). "Military intelligence" is a popular one but it's sarcastic, which means it's only an oxymoron if you believe the military is not intelligent. A better example is the ever popular "jumbo shrimp," or my new favorite, "butt head." These are oxymora in fact, not opinion. (I also like "Congressional action," but there we go again with the sarcasm.)

Let's hear yours today, sarcastic or not. Oxymorons unite!

Tree Story House

We complained about losing thousands of trees when hurricane-force winds hit Pasadena November 30th, but we didn't lose every tree in town. In fact, most of them are still here. It's not that we exaggerated the loss. It's just that Pasadena had so many trees to begin with that although losing so many was painful, we still live in a blessed urban forest.

Boz and I passed this giant on our dog walk yesterday evening. The tree dwarfs its yard partner, making it look like a tiny tree house.

Sometimes when I'm walking--okay, always when I'm walking--I glance through gates into back yards and, if the curtains are open, I peer into windows. It's part nosiness, absolutely. But mostly it's like looking at the pictures while reading a fanciful storybook. I peek at a world I don't know. I imagine what it's like to live inside that story.

Boz doesn't fantasize. He's strictly a non-fiction dog. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this.

I couldn't see into this house. Like a treehouse, it's raised over the sidewalk on a yard of ferns, heightened above the everyday like fiction itself. But the golden light from the windows was enough.