Footprints

It's getting warm here. There's less water down by Devil's Gate Dam every day. We savor our walks there this time of year. We won't go much in summer because there's little shade and the sun is too punishing. We'll have to find another place to go.

In this photo I detect the prints of duck, dog, and...some large creature. I'd make a lousy tracker.

Theme Day: Numbers

The City Daily Photo blog family has a theme day the first of each month. May's theme is numbers.

The man in the background of this photo stands at the top of the freeway offramp at Lake Avenue. He's holding a handmade sign that says "Homeless Vet. Hungry. Please help." If I had a sign it might say, "Our dependency on fossil fuels is choking our economy." But that's not very original. I stole it from this article.

Click here to view thumbnails for all 181 blogs participating in this month's theme day. Go on, click on one you've never visited before! Have an adventure! I'm going to click on a bunch of them, and after that I'm going to go buy a bike.

Cuts On The Go

Mike Lee does the cosmetology version of telecommuting: he gives haircuts on his front porch.

I live near Mike, so Boz and I walk by from time to time. Mike's dog gives Boz what fer, and Boz gets his back up while trying to act nonchalant. And usually a few guys are waiting in Mike's yard for a haircut. I mean, there's a line. While I took this photo, two guys hung out on the porch and two more played checkers. It was kinda laid back and pleasant.

I think Mike's doing a good job because the guys look pretty good. You can call Mike but I don't recommend showing up without an appointment, because there's liable to be a wait.

Mike's been cutting men's hair for about 7 years, and he tells me he began doing women's hair more than two years ago. There's such a thing as "hairdresser loyalty" and I'm loyal to mine, but if I were going to switch, I'd go for Cuts On the Go. I like the atmosphere.

La Loma Rehab

La Loma Bridge has arched over Lower Arroyo Park since before it was a park. It's a lovely old thing. You can walk a path right up under it and look into its upper parts. Though lately I'm thinking that's not a good idea.

Built in 1914 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, La Loma's lived life to the fullest. She's pretty from a distance but close up, her wrinkles show. Time for rehab.

The La Loma Bridge Project is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by September. Seems a short time for rehab, but what do I know? I'm just glad the bridge will be brought up to date to meet current seismic standards. As pretty as La Loma is, I wouldn't want to be under it during an earthquake.

Of course I wouldn't want to be under a house of cards during an earthquake, but that's just me.

Update on the Sierra Madre fire: Huge progress. 59% containment this morning, 700 people (out of 1000 evacuated) have been allowed to return safely to their homes. No homes lost, though a few came close to getting scorched. Public schools open today. Cheers to the firefighters!

Sierra Madre Fire

For those who don't live around here: it smells like a campfire. The smoke permeates everything (the smell woke me this morning). The sky is white with it. Little flakes of ash float in the air like snow.

In the mountains above Sierra Madre, the pretty, Mayberry-esque community bordering Pasadena to the east, firefighters battle a brush fire that began Saturday. It still burns this morning. Over 1,000 people have evacuated their homes.

Yesterday in downtown Sierra Madre, people stood on the sidewalks and pointed toward the hills. Every conversation was about the fires. Command central was the Sierra Madre Recreation Center, its parking lot filled with vehicles from every surrounding fire department you could think of, including Pasadena's. A few firemen took a break at one end of the lot. At the other end, the news media set up their cameras to get the best views.

In this photo, a couple watches a fixed-wing air tanker drop orange flame retardant on the fire above their neighborhood. Across the street from the Recreation Center was this sign:

Marti's Bees

Although the official day was April 22nd, Pasadena celebrated Earth Day Saturday so everyone could join in. There were arts events, home tours and bike tours. The city blocked streets for an Arts Festival at Memorial Park, with exhibits on recycling, sustainable design, green power and green building.

I checked out one of the Eco-Home Tours. I loved Marti Coleman's shady rear garden ("yard" would be the wrong word, as the Coleman's don't have grass). Every corner invites relaxation or discovery. On a hot day, the Colemans don't need an air conditioner; their garden does the cooling. They've even got a tree house, and there's a hammock up there!

The edible front garden is a gathering spot for bees—thousands of them, without the least interest in stinging people. This might not be remarkable if we hadn't noticed a lack of bees around here lately. Colony Collapse Disorder, a huge potential danger facing our nation's crops, is quite noticeable in California. Scientists around the world are wondering what the deal is.

Perhaps they should study Marti Coleman's garden.

Unsafe House

We heard the sirens at night. The next day my husband found the address in the newspaper. Feeling like a news hound, I took my camera.

I parked on the shady street and began shooting pictures of the old Craftsman home with its typical front porch made of river rocks. The cyclone fence had obviously been put up overnight.

Within moments, the insurance adjusters and contractors approached me one by one. They'd been waiting in their cars. Was I was a family member? Could I give them the business? When I told them I was taking photos for my blog, they gave me their brochures. Legitimate businesses, every one of them. Each of those people was doing their job, just trying to make the deal.

What I learned: be ready for this before it happens. Make sure you have enough coverage. And if it does happen, you might want the help of a licensed claims adjuster. It's not necessarily in the best interest of your insurance company to pay you top dollar. At least it's worth looking into.

I'm not a news hound. It's a shock to see a burned building, especially a home.

Safe House

For a couple of years now, the fate of the Herkimer Arms has been hotly debated. The only apartment building designed by the famed Greene and Greene architects, poor old Herkimer was destined to be either moved or demolished, and it sure looked like it was going to be the latter.

At the last minute, Heritage Housing Partners and saved the day. The building will be moved and converted to condos - expensive ones. According to some, that was the only way to pay for the project. Fine, I say. Better than tearing it down. I think plenty of folks around here will pay good money to own a piece of Greene & Greene.

Then again, we have yet to see what depths the California housing market can reach. But that's another story.

Kudos to Pasadena Heritage for keeping the spotlight on this and other endangered structures, and to Heritage Housing Partners for being the deus ex machina.

Thanks to Ben for asking in the comments section: for now, you can still see the Herkimer Arms at its original location, 527 Union Street.

Dog Imitates Art

The first time I posted one of these outdoor artworks, I left the sculptor anonymous. Now it can be told: it's Leo Snider of Coventry Landscape Company in La Crescenta. He's participated in the Showcase House of Design, had his work published in Sunset Magazine and even Better Homes and Gardens and he still doesn't have a website. He doesn't need one.

Like me, Leo walks his dog (Snoopy the beagle) at Hahamongna Watershed Park. Leo doesn't intend to landscape the wilderness, it's just that he's an artist. River rocks and driftwood suggest further shapes to him and he's one of those people who can't help being creative.

Plus he has to keep himself busy while Snoopy hunts lizards.

Boz is creative, too. I called and called, trying to get Boz to move out of the picture. But he insisted on completing the shot for me.

Pasadena Image Printing Image

I pulled into the parking lot behind the national chain copy shop, resigned to copy 100 resumes at an exorbitant fee. Then I spied it: two doors down, a banner flew above the rear door of a smaller shop, advertising copies at half the price of the chain.

So I gave Pasadena Image Printing a try. As it turns out, This "small" shop is not so small. They do a booming business in all things print: letterhead, billboards, posters, mounting and more. The staff is professional—you won't find pimpled goth kids here, earning their nose-piercing money. Joseph, the tireless owner, always wears a crisp shirt and tie (and seems to work a 24-hour day). Laura (kindred spirit and graphic designer supreme) created beauteous business cards for me. I'm handing them out by the handful.

And the glass on the self-serve machines is clean. The little things mean so much.

I've never gone back to the chain.

Page 94 Girl

This man is reading a magazine. Pasadena Magazine, to be specific.

A magazine is like a blog, except it's not backlit. That's why this man is sitting in the sun. (Actually, it's more like a whole website, except you can read it in a coffee shop even if you don't have a laptop and they don't have wifi.)

What is he reading about? Why, Pasadena Daily Photo, of course. He's riveted on Page 94 where there's a teeny weeny blurb about this here blog that even includes one of my photos.

Oh no, I'm not bursting with pride or anything.

The May issue of Pasadena Magazine is on the stands. It's absolutely gorgeous. I left a few copies out there for you, but you'd better hurry up because I'll be out today buying more. (Tip: the newsstand price is steep but the subscription price is very reasonable, so since every single issue is fabulous, go ahead and subscribe!)

Climb This

This is something you don't see every day in your neighborhood. Well, I don't. It's a climbing wall, delivered to your home for your party! The teen equivalent of a bounce house!

This one comes from Gold Rush Mobile Rock Climbing. (I couldn't load their website, www.goldrushmobilerockclimbing.com, but found info here. Head on over and get started with the liability paperwork!)

Many thanks to these nice fellas for letting me take pictures.

WeBlog!

The San Gabriel Valley blogosphere is alive and kickin'. Area bloggers got together Saturday for a picnic, organized by Miss Havisham (thank you, dear Miss H!). Once again, guest photographer John Sandel took the photo, because I wanted to be in it.

It was loads of fun. The group was diverse and by no means complete (there are hundreds of blogs around here). You can agree or disagree with them (I do both), but that's the beauty of the web: there's room for everyone. (Let's keep it that way.)

Not everyone wants to be identified, as you can guess by the picture, so I'll list their blogs alphabetically. Bloggers: out yourselves in the comments if you so desire, and if I'm missing your blog address, please let me know so I can add it here.

It was a great pleasure meeting you all. And to those who didn't make it, you were missed!

Altadenablog
Eye Level Pasadena
Frazgo Meanders
KCHBlog
LA Times Pressmens 20 year Club
Mickie's Zoo
Miss Havisham's Tea Party
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Palm Axis
The Adventures of Aaron Proctor
The Real Zajac
Up2DateRealEstate
West Coast Grrlie Blather

Devil's Playground

I don't think these guys saw me take their picture. I don't think they're supposed to skateboard inside the workings of the Devil's Gate Dam, either. But the photo doesn't give their identities away.

They weren't bothering anybody and they were having a good time.

Sidewalk Stamp

As I promised yesterday, here's a Pasadena sidewalk stamp. This one's from contractor J.E. Haddock in 1928. A closer view is below.

You find these around town, from different contractors. They're not everywhere, just the older neighborhoods. Further study would tell us when these were most commonly used. If you know, I'd love to get your comments. My guess would be this began after 1900 and stopped before World War II.

Sensuous Curves

Rarely do I feature photos from other photographers. It's not because I don't like other peoples' photos, it's more because I figure it's my challenge to post a new photo every day. But I'm charmed by this shot by guest photographer (and husband extraordinaire) John Sandel. John is my best teacher. He's always interested in how light works with shadow. Lately he's especially interested in shooting toward the light.

I love the late-day light and shadows he captured here. I also love the lazy walk you know he's having and the air you know he feels on his face. The best, though, is that curving sidewalk. Pasadena has several of them, in older neighborhoods.

In the early 20th Century, developers in Pasadena sometimes stamped their name and the date in the sidewalks. I'll see if I can find you a sidewalk stamp for tomorrow.

Other guest photos on the blog, by Dave Thomson, can be found here and here.

Monopoly

I'm extremely late posting today.

There's one thing I don't like about Pasadena: we have one cable company. A monopoly gets around to taking care of its customers whenever it feels like it.

When our cable isn't working, I have no online access. Satellite's an option, but it's much more expensive. I depend on the internet. Without it, I barely know what to do with myself.

Talk about a monopoly!

Shadowed Balcony

I used to walk a lot in Chicago. We don't do much walking in the LA metropolitan area. (Strange, when you think how blessed we are weather-wise, and how Chicago isn't.)

Pasadena's working on it, including Mayor Bogaard's Get Up & Moving program, "a brisk walk around the Rose bowl Stadium the first Wednesday of every month at 7:45 a.m." The Mayor invites the citizenry to join him along with a special guest. Not being an early riser, I've already missed big-shot Hollywood Producer and Pasadena resident Gale Ann Hurd, who walked with the Mayor this month. I could shoot for May, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.

The other day I walked along Colorado Blvd. at the east end of town. I found shops I'd never noticed before. I discovered a pretty balcony in the shadows. There's probably sun on it early in the morning.

I may never see it in the early morning, but hey—at least I got out of the car. When you walk, you discover things.

Showplace

"She was a showplace when I moved here back in 1955," said a man who spotted me taking pictures at the Food4Less parking lot. I wanted to get Cinema 21 from every angle.

The North Lake Village Business Assn. Website says Cinema 21 (originally the Washington Theater) was designed by Clarence Jay of Altadena & built in 1925 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. They also say "the building is scheduled to be renovated."

Since it was the Washington Theater, Cinema 21 has gone through several incarnations. In its later years, according to this thread, it showed Spanish films and finally adult films. By 2003, along with the theatre and (apparently illegal) shops, the Cinema 21 building housed 34 families and some toxic mold in its upper apartments. The city evacuated and relocated the people. They weren't as kind to the mold.

At the Food4Less parking lot, a security guard told me people are always poking around Cinema 21. He said a guy last week was talking about buying it to fix it up as a theatre for neighborhood kids. I hope the building isn't too far gone. Someone has already tried but the graffiti, the broken windows and the "Stop Work" order posted in the box office window tell me progress to rescue this old "showplace" is slow. Or nonexistent.

Ben, over at The Sky is Big in Pasadena, posted a nice shot of the front of the theatre back in February. I've posted a few others at Overdog. I got a bit of spam there this morning so I've enabled comments moderation for now. I'll moderate and post as quickly as I can.

Personal Jesus

Everywhere you turn in Pasadena there's a church, temple or other place of worship. You can barely go two blocks before bumping into a place where people gather to send up messages to one god or another.

I'm all for going the non-traditional route, but I don't believe a tree deserves to suffer for our sins.