Non-Traditional

I've totally thrown photography out the window here. It's Christmas eve! Bring on the fun and the pretty lights. I have no idea what a sugarplum is, but bring that on, too. Figgy pudding I'm not so sure about, but if you want it, why not?

When I was a kid we had holiday traditions. We did certain things in certain ways. We had our favorite decorations for the tree, traditional foods and the right time of day for opening presents. (We even had traditional wrapping paper that reappeared, with tape marks, year after year.)

As an adult couple with a dog and no kids we're free from old traditions, but I find myself wanting to establish new ones. I might want to try traveling at Christmas time for example, or making something new.

What are the traditions you can't do without--the ones that create the winter holidays and set you up for the new year?

Christmas Lights

After last Saturday's post I implemented many of your suggestions and am now caught up in the holiday spirit. That day I promised "Christmas cheer on the blog, rain or shine, through Christmas day." It's been easy to feel cozy and cheery these past few days with the rain pouring outside and Christmas music playing indoors.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the lights. Here are ours, reflected on a curtain and a lamp stand, with a little creative license.

Getting Restless

I like the look of the lights against this adobe home and the symmetry of the cross centered in the window. Peaceful.

The rain didn't let up yesterday. I had a lot of time to spend at my desk. I've discovered I can't stay with one task, one project, for a whole eight hours. I begin to feel restless and look for other things to do. After about 90 minutes of researching an article, I felt a deep desire to take out the garbage even though it was pouring rain. And though I knew I had to finish a synopsis, a couple of hours of arranging and rearranging 3X5 note cards had me wishing the bathroom wasn't already clean.

But Boz got a good walk. And John had a nice dinner waiting for him when he got home.

And now it's pouring again. Today, perhaps I can learn to stay at each project a little longer.

How about a poem?

Horses and Men in Rain, by Carl Sandburg (Cornhuskers, 1918)

Let us sit by a hissing steam radiator a winter's day, gray
wind pattering frozen raindrops on the window,
And let us talk about milk wagon drivers and grocery delivery 
boys.

Let us keep our feet in wool slippers and mix hot 
punches--and talk about mail carriers and messenger boys
slipping along the icy sidewalks.
Let us write of olden, golden days and hunters of the Holy
Grail and men called "knights" riding horses in the rain, in the
cold frozen rain for ladies they loved.

A roustabout hunched on a coal wagon goes by, icicles drip on
his hat rim, sheets of ice wrapping the hunks of coal, the
caravanserai a gray blur in a slant of rain.
Let us nudge the steam radiator with our wool slippers and 
write poems of Launcelot, the hero, and Roland, the hero, and 
all the olden golden men who rode horses in the rain.

Just One Block

Late Saturday afternoon I put on a rain poncho, grabbed an umbrella and dragged Boz outside because he wouldn't go on his own. I wouldn't have done this if Boz had seemed happy where he was, but he'd been complaining of boredom all day. And he, uh, needed to go.

The rain was steady but light. "One block," I said to Boz. "Just one block, and if you're successful, we can go home."

It's very wet in Pasadena, as you may have heard, but it isn't cold. It's been hovering around 60 degrees during the daytime. So when we came upon the neighborhood kids having a snowball fight, you can bet I needed to investigate.

The kids were bundled up like I used to do in Illinois winters. They were having a blast. They'd been sledding before the snowball fight, and would be sledding again. The parents were having a beer and a nosh, going in and out of the lovely Craftsman home nearby. Christmas lights twinkled on the lawn. I stopped to marvel and asked the homeowner if I could take pictures. He shook my hand and said, "Sure!"

Boz wasn't thrilled. Turning into an alley was not part of our one block agreement. And Boz is not a water dog. The one thing he likes less than rain is hoses.

And that is a hose.

But Boz waited as patiently as he could while I talked to the neighbors and took my shots. Patience under these circumstances meant leaning against my leg and saying "murph," over and over again, as plaintively and sweetly as possible. The neighbors, who don't know me very well, were festive and friendly--they exhibited their Christmas spirit by offering me food and drink and inviting us to their party. We'd have stayed, too, if I hadn't had other plans for the evening--and if I hadn't made a promise to Boz.

Once I had my shots I thanked our friendly neighbors, then Boz and I continued around the block. Boz kept up his end of the bargain and we returned home, each of us knowing, in our own way, that the walk had been a success.

Zen Monday: #125

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion, unless you people get totally out of control. That has never happened by my definition, I'm sorry to say.

There's no right or wrong, we're here to have fun. 

I wish you a Zen Christmas week!

Wet Christmas

The good news is we've had enough rain this year that it starts to feel like our long drought is coming to an end. The bad news is, don't get cocky.

The good news is, there's free water coming out of the sky, along with the opportunity to use it wisely. The bad new is, there was a big fire in the mountains last year (you may remember), and we've got flash flood warnings through tonight for the burn areas. If you live in those areas, the Los Angeles Times says not to park your car in the street.

The good news is, this is normal winter weather for southern California. If you've been here only a few short years you might not think so, but that's because you've known only drought. This is more like it. Good news.

Boz hates it. You'd think a half boxer/half mastiff or whatever he is wouldn't be such a pansy, but a little rain comes along and it's time to start thinking about doggy Prozac. We don't give him anti-depressants. Good news/bad news.

If you need information about road closures, flash floods, etc. you will always find it at Altadenablog.

Haul Out the Holly

I'm having trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year. There could be any number of reasons:

I don't have kids.
I don't like egg nog.
It hasn't snowed in Pasadena yet.
I gained weight before Thanksgiving.
I don't enjoy shopping.
I can't fly.
I haven't started on my holiday cards, even though every year I promise myself I will do them in September.
Baking makes me tense.
I don't have a secretary.
I don't have a palace on the Riviera.
Et cetera.

But I want to enjoy the season and I certainly have nothing to complain about. I have work I enjoy, a home and family I love, good friends and a great life.

Can you help me perk up? What holiday spirit tips can you share? (You can call them Christmas spirit tips, I won't be offended.)

How do you cheer yourself for the season of warm and fuzzy?

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Have you heard any of the press about "the war on Christmas?" I heard about it on Patt Morrison yesterday on KPCC.

Apparently some people are up in arms (it's a war after all) because they prefer to hear "Merry Christmas" instead of "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays." They want to see red and green--none of this blue stuff (that's Jewish!) or orange (what is that, Kwanzaa?) or--does Ashura have a color? What color signifies fasting? I think that would just be clear.

Okay now, hang on a second. I think we have enough things to get freaked out about. Do we really need to get upset over this? We're talking about Jesus Christ's birthday, here, so let's ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?

I think Jesus would wish us a happy Chanukah.

If someone wishes me a merry something or a happy something, they're wishing me well. It doesn't matter if it's something I celebrate. I don't celebrate Kwanzaa, for example, but if you wish me a happy Kwanzaa, I'll take it. It's almost Kwanzaa whether I celebrate it or not, and I might as well be happy.

And as for that holiday parade in Tulsa, as a certain friend of mine would say, "Oh, for the love!" Calm down. It's Tulsa. It's not like we're talking about the liberal hotbed of America. We're talking about a town like every other town in the U.S.--a town where not everyone is a Christian, yet everyone's invited to the parade. At least that's the America I live in.

And I might just point out that when folks are worried about parades and lights, Santa and shopping, they're missing the point of Christmas anyway.

There's no war on Christmas. The only war going on in these quiet towns at this time of year is an imaginary war inside a few teeny, tiny minds.

Retreat

I stopped at Vroman's yesterday. Wednesday afternoon. Middle of the work day. Parking lot packed.

This requires patience. You wait in a line of cars (you have no choice, you're stuck now) while someone backs out of a space. The line moves on and finally it's your turn, your space, the furthest one in the lot, between two SUVs, both of which were parked by people who have apparently never parked a car before. On the return trip, a monster pick-up truck follows you to your space. You try to wave him off because--well, finally he sees he's never going to fit in there and he speeds off, burning frustrated rubber.

It has begun. Christmas/New Year's time, Pasadena is a busy town.

It's good, though. Three clerks worked the back registers at Vroman's and more registers granted angels their wings throughout the store. Employees (that means "people who are employed") helped customers find the things they wanted. Commerce, in my town, in an independent book store, is just fine with me.

I'm glad to leave it to others from this point onward, though. I bought what I hope is the last Christmas present I need to get. Now I think I'll retreat to the less popular mountain trails or my favorite spots in the Arroyo Seco (far north and/or south of the Rose Bowl) until after the first of the year.

Unless someone else wants to do the driving.

Non Sequitur

I usually don't post graffiti--and truly, I have no idea what this says--but I like the picture. No photoshop, no messing. It is what it is. Kinda like not having a face-lift.

I'm too tired to write much about the photo. John says it could be an entrance to faerie. What with all our urbanization it's conceivable that such entrances exist in parking lots or other places in town. Faeries have to get home, too.

Or

I'm eating a cookie with red and green sprinkles on it. The green ones are teeny, tiny Christmas trees.

Co-Operating on Food

Last year our clementine tree was so prolific I gave clementines as Christmas gifts. I shared clementines with neighbors up and down the block. I enlisted friends to help pick them and sent them home with bags full of fruit.

This year, nada. Like eleven clementines or something. I guess that's just the way it goes. The tree doesn't bear fruit every year.

I miss those clementines. The ones from the grocery store don't even come close because they're genetically altered not to have seeds. In that alteration all flavor is lost. They're not even called clementines. They have the nerve to call them "cuties." Yeah, well, looks aren't everything.

There's a growing movement in the Dena called the Arroyo Food Co-op. The goal is to create a grocery store owned by the people, where the food is healthy, where you know the people who grow it and where the growers are kept to sustainable farming methods.

I haven't joined the Co-op yet. Should I? Should you? Shouldn't everyone? Take a look at their website. They've got events coming up this week on the 16th and 17th where you can meet people and ask questions.

I may have to go without clementines this year. It goes without saying that no cuties will pass my lips.

Did you find the surprise in the photo?

Update: I just read this article about Smithfield and animal torture, which lit a fire under me to join the Co-op.

Zen Monday: #124

photo by Katie Murphy

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion, unless you people get totally out of control. So far that hasn't happened but there's a first time for everything.

There's no right or wrong, we're here to have fun.

You may notice we have a guest photographer today. A warm round of applause, please, for Katie Murphy!

Not in the Spirit Yet

I had a migraine yesterday which is unfortunate any day but particularly unfortunate yesterday as I had party invitations as well as errands, a whole long planned-out tightly scheduled day with an itinerary and a list with subcategories, which is probably why I had a migraine in the first place but the doctor thinks it's because of caffeine and he is insane

...oh excuse me, I was saying...uh

Well, so I took my pill early in the day. Pain over by mid-afternoon. Good. Still, I am worn out and stupid on a migraine day, long after the pain itself is gone. I cancel all appointments/plans. I cut out every unnecessary errand. But there is one, one, one that HAS to happen.

So I am standing in the aisle at Ralph's in Hastings Ranch (because I have already been to two other stores and cannot find small paper cups for hot drinks) and I'm looking at styrofoam cups. I don't want styrofoam cups. They come in a package of 50. I will be serving warm apple cider to about 12 little children and no one has kid-size hot drink cups. I have the aisle all to myself and I'm swearing at the styrofoam.

Some country-pop singer is wailing out a Christmas song on the intercom. Not a traditional Christmas song but a brand new one, made up fresh this year, probably by some junior high school kid hopped up on sugar and romance, and it's so saccharine and sappy and awful and they are blasting it. They always blast the music at that Ralph's, I can never get out of there fast enough because the music is so loud even when they play non-Christmas music, but this time the music is loud and crappy and I have to buy this huge honking bag of #$@&ing styrofoam.

I can't find the kind of cookies I want and I'm afraid to ask because if I do I won't be able to keep from either shouting or sobbing. They'll think I'm as insane as my doctor is, so I just buy the styrofoam and leave.

I make it home. When John gets home he looks at me and says, "Early to bed for some people."

I (almost) wish the problem was coffee. At least then migraines would be under my control and I would schedule them on more convenient days.

In cheerier news: Laurie Barlow won the final installment of the PDP/PPM Books Contest when her name was drawn from among the correct answers to the question, "Who is my favorite dog?" It is Boz indeed. Laurie wins a copy of At Home Pasadena, courtesy of Prospect Park Media.

I've enjoyed the contest and I hope you have, too. Thanks, Prospect Park Media and thanks to all who entered!

Christmas at Heritage Square

Here's something Christmasy to do this weekend:

The holidays are a good time to visit Heritage Square Museum, a whole neighborhood of preserved buildings straight out of the history of Los Angeles. This time of year they deck the place out to do Charles Dickens proud.

This picture was sent to me by Brian Sheridan, Director of Development and Communications at Heritage Square. Brian will soon be leaving to take a new position with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council. (I don't think I'll lose track of him there.)

Brian has invited me to Heritage Square many times in hopes that I'll blog about it, and I've done so because it's my kind of place. I'm so compelled by architecture, especially of old places. There's something about the buildings people used and lived in before us. Heritage Square preserves some unique specimens. The top photo is of the Ford House, where the exquisite woodwork was all carved by hand.

Of Heritage Square Brian says, "before the museum’s existence, few people thought twice about tearing down historic structures. In 1969, long before the LA Conservancy, Pasadena Heritage and others would begin making an impact, a group of concerned citizens moved the Castle and the Saltbox from Bunker Hill to Heritage Square, signaling a tremendous shift in the way we thought about old buildings."

Of course the Museum is more than just a collection of old buildings. They've constantly got something new going on, from movies to school programs. You can even get married there. Heritage Square is a place where, as Brian says, "you can learn about history...where you can see, smell and feel the past. Where you can experience a history often forgotten in the textbooks."

Right around now you can experience Christmas past. But although I mentioned Charles Dickens, I don't think the Ghost of Christmas Past will be in evidence. If you want to see ghosts, you should go at Halloween.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 8

This is it! It's the last week of the PDP/PPM books contest/giveaway. Let's give a big round of applause to Prospect Park Media and Colleen Dunn Bates for donating the books!

For the final contest question, I thought devoted readers of Pasadena Daily Photo should have the extra edge. You can't Google the answer to this one, you have to just know it.

Who is my favorite dog?

That's this week's contest question. Here are the rules we play by:

1. Email the answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored but probably not deleted unless they're incorrect.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. I'll put all the correct answers into a hat (or a--well, a bag) and somehow, some way, tomorrow I'll find someone nice and totally unconcerned with the outcome to draw the winning name. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES!
Our final prize is At Home Pasadena, a beautiful, hardbound, coffee-table book for your drooling pleasure. Designed by James Barkley and written by Jill Allison Ganon and Sandy Gillis, with photos by Jennifer Cheung and Steven Nilsson, At Home Pasadena is Pasadena home town eye candy with sections on gardening, working, collecting--and an out-of-this-world section on bathing. It'll make someone on your list (maybe you) an excellent Christmas gift.

Big thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates of Hometown Pasadena and Prospect Park Media for providing us with all the fabulous books!

I'm Not Hip

There was a time in my life when I thought it important to be in the know. No more.

I'm too busy now to pay much attention to what's in style. I admit to enjoying the Sartorialist once in a while, but that's more about what's classic or individualistic than what's hot. Being hip requires actual study. You've got to read the right magazines and blogs, watch the right TV.

I don't care anymore. I have so many other things to read, and we got rid of our cable over a year ago. (I thought I'd miss prime time. I don't.) I just don't have time to have fashion sense.

I wouldn't mind wearing the latest clothes if someone else would pick them out for me--in fact I really must do something about my wardrobe--but having the house foundation inspected is higher on my priority list than wearing the right foundation underwear.

It's a function of age, I think. You get older and your priorities change. My mother, in her later years, wore wild outfits all of one color group: purple tennis shoes, long purple skirt, purple leather belt, purple cotton blouse, purple knit sweater and purple straw hat for example--not all the same purple, but at least all purple. You couldn't miss her in a crowd the size of Oregon. This I pledge I will not do. I'm only middle-aged, though, so there's plenty of time for my lack of fashion sense to grow out of proportion in some way of my very own.

Why this photo, instead of one of me in my crappy old jeans and Led Zeppelin t-shirt? Just musing on the hipness theme after a visit to Intelligentsia where everyone else there was right out of...well, I don't know, do I? I don't read that stuff.

Fire Station 31

The Altadena Hiker called it an "excellent adventure" and it was. She, Bellis and I had long planned to visit Castle Green on Sunday for the annual Christmas open house. The closest parking lot was full and each of us had walked some distance to get there. But as the line snaked out into the street and another bus pulled up in front of that lovely old building, our enthusiasm dampened.

I hope they made a lot of money and had a great time, but shuffling through the halls shoulder to shoulder with a packed crowd wasn't what we had in mind.

So how did we end up at Fire Station 31 and what did we find there? The story and more photos are on Overdog. And don't miss the Hiker's take on the tale.

Hahamongna: the Good News

This past July 7th, 23 local bloggers raised their collective voice to protest the construction of soccer fields in our watershed. Our voices joined the chorus of other citizens and we were heard; instead of two soccer fields, now only one is proposed. Not perfect, but a damned sight better.

For our efforts, the Hahamongna Bloggers will be awarded the Best Advocacy award at this Thursday's Arroyo Verde Awards.

Quoting the Arroyo Seco Foundation's website: "The Arroyo Verde (Green Arroyo) Awards are the most prestigious local environmental awards. The awards recognize those who have made a valuable contribution to protecting and improving the Arroyo Seco watershed and our local communities during the past year."

I'm proud and pleased that we've won an award. Even more, I'm thrilled that we joined forces to speak together and help protect our beautiful watershed.

Our voices may be required again in the future, but for now we get to congratulate ourselves. If you were a Hahamongna Blogger and I haven't sent you the information, email me! Let me send you the info so you can come to the party!

Zen Monday: #123

photo by John Sandel

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion, unless you people get totally out of control. So far that hasn't happened but there's a first time for everything.

There's no right or wrong, we're here to have fun.

WTF

The Hahamongna basin fills up with rain and silt every year. The Devil's Gate Dam has a job to do--keep all that stuff from flooding Pasadena, South Pasadena and beyond.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Water Resources Division Flood Control District (LACDoPWWRDFCD for short) has a job to do, too--keep the dam in working condition.

Well, the LACDoPWWRDFCD's been busy, you know? So many dams (14), so little time. The sediment behind the Devil's Gate Dam has been building for some time and could have continued to do so. But the 2009 Station Fire scorched the mountains so severely they couldn't retain their soil. In early 2010, along with ash and debris, it all came flowing into the basin by the ton. Actually, it came by the cubic yard--almost a million of 'em.

Last year was an average rain year. Another year like it will bring the dam near to "uncontrolled flow at the spillway," according to Ryan Butler of the LACDoPWWRDFCD. Last Tuesday, Butler and Ken Zimmer of the LACDoPWWRDFCD presented the Postfire Sediment Removal Project (PSRP) at a meeting of the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee (HWPAC).

Beginning in September of 2011, long after this coming winter's rain (which, you may recall, could bring the dam near to "uncontrolled flow" if it's an average year), the LACDoPWWRDFCD will first create a road into the basin from Oak Grove Drive near La Canada Flintridge High School. Then they'll remove 15 acres of native willow trees from the basin. By then they figure the rains will set in so there probably won't be much sediment removal next fall and they'll cease working until the spring of 2012.

Then (two rainy seasons from now, I guess we should pray for drought?) the emergency work begins in earnest. That will be 300-400 trucks per day, 7:30am-5pm Monday through Friday between May and December, hauling sediment out of the 50 acres closest to the dam to sites in Irwindale and Azusa. The job is expected to take 3 years at a projected cost of $35 million.

The "emergency" status of this project gives the LACDoPWWRDFCD a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption, meaning an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) isn't required (even though there's still more than a year to do it--but you know, so many EIRs, so little time). The LACDoPWWRDFCD still has to get permits from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Each of these agencies may require some sort of mitigation, environmentally speaking.

More questions will be asked. The city of La Canada Flintridge will have to weigh in. Mary Barrie of Friends of Hahamongna wrote an excellent report about the LACDoPWWRDFCD presentation. Arroyo Seco Foundation Managing Director Tim Brick expressed, among other things, his belief that this should be an issue in our upcoming municipal elections.

The stuff's gotta go. But does it have to go like this? The outgoing chairperson of the HWPAC, Tim Wendler, asked if other plans were considered before this one was chosen. "There's not a lot of options," said the LACDoPWWRDFCD's Zimmer. He added, "Deferring clean-outs doesn't work." Seeing as the LACDoPWWRDFCD has been deferring clean-outs for some years now, I guess we could say we have proof that he's right. Zimmer had the second-best line of the evening when he said, "Believe it or not, this is the fast track of the county."

The best line of the evening came from HWPAC member Maria Isenberg: "Can we get rid of that nasty little soccer field?"

I will bring you good news about Hahamongna later this week, I promise.

Here's good news about the PDP/PPM Contest:
Steve Scauzillo of Temple City (Daily Photo) is this week's winner of the PDP/PPM books contest! Steve was among those who answered correctly, "Who were the original architects of Pasadena City Hall?" It was the San Francisco firm of Bakewell and Brown. I took this week's poo bag to the Pasadena Farmers' Market and asked the beautiful daughter of one of my favorite merchants to draw a name at random from the correct answers. Steve won a copy of the lovely book At Home Pasadena from Prospect Park Media.

UPDATE: here's the county's sediment removal project.