Artistic Nature

Someone at Hahamongna Watershed Park can't help being creative, and I know who.

Every time Boz and I walk there we find a new, precarious structure that delights us—well, they delight me. Boz has other uses for these temporary works of art. And anyway, pretty much everything at Hahamongna delights him.

A Sight for Sore Eyes

Oh, you've just got to click on this picture and look at it close up. Pasadenans will recognize this right away.

This is the façade of Linden Optometry on Colorado Blvd., a sprawling frame and lens store. Once you've had your eyes checked, you can select from a seemingly endless selection of frames. They do a huge business, garnering mixed reviews. I'd give them a good review. My husband and I have been there twice and gotten good service both times. Regardless of what's inside, the exterior of the building is a stunner.

I haven't been able to find any history of this building online, although I'm sure there's plenty of information about it at perhaps Pasadena Heritage, or some other worthy organization. If we're lucky, City Spokeschick will check in. She knows everything.

A bit of an afterthought: It helps to put it in full context.

A Valentine

City Daily Photo bloggers around the world celebrate love today. I celebrate, too. Pasadena's loaded with romantic spots—restaurants, galleries, gardens and more.

My sweetheart and I began falling in love in Pasadena at a theatre that's no longer here and at a restaurant that's also gone. Neither of us lived in Pasadena then, but we liked coming here. On our first Valentine's day together, after all the shops were closed, we held hands for the first time and walked along Colorado Blvd., ignoring the chill in the night.

We've been in love with each other, and with Pasadena, ever since.

At the same moment I took the above photo, my sweetie snapped the photo below with his cell phone. Our little friends prove that sometimes your Valentine is your best friend. Or your best friend is your Valentine. Or both.

It's chilly in Pasadena again tonight. A good night for a walk, holding hands and ignoring the cold.

A Spring in One's Step

Beyond the JPL campus you can head into the mountains and discover trails leading to campgrounds, old ruins and more trails. You could probably hike to Alaska if you wanted to, but hey--plan ahead.

By now the person who lost this shoe at the west end of Altadena Avenue has gotten a new pair and resumed hiking. The shoe has been there for at least a year. I wonder what brand it is? It's holding up pretty well.

One City, Many Stories

With one of the best independent bookstores this side of the Mississippi, a popular annual city-wide reading program and ten library branches within the city limits, Pasadena is a reader's paradise. In this town, you can buy or order just about any book you want. If you'd rather check it out, there's a good chance you'll find it at the Pasadena Public Library branch near you. Lazy? Stay home and look it up online.

On days like this you might want to enjoy your book outdoors. These palm trees grace the facade of the Central Library at 285 East Walnut Street. Grab a cup of coffee and sit on the patio at Central Grounds. You can see the trees from there if you can get your nose out of your book.

Ladies Only

Men, here's a place you may never get to see. Pasadena women: do you know it? If not, I recommend you check it out. (As always, click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Here are three clues:

1) It's on Green Street.

2) All items on the rack behind the poorly hidden photographer are marked down.

3) You'll rarely find yourself alone in this room.

I await your guesses in the comments section. I'll bet it won't take long. This spot is hot, even though men aren't allowed.

added 2/13: Of course it's Rag Time on Green! A spot too popular to be a secret.

Ancient and Accepted Riddle

The Sphinx at Thebes posed a riddle to travelers and killed them when they got it wrong. This sphinx, at 150 N. Madison Avenue, made me stop on the way to an errand today. Wait a minute! Have I not been on this block before? What is this place?

Carved into the facade of the building was the answer: the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

I was still stumped. So when I got home I looked it up on the web. I read the Wikipedia article about the Ancient and Accepted Scottish rite, and though it was in English I didn't understand it. All I got out of it was that it's a branch of Freemasonry. I was still stumped. I found the website for the Pasadena Branch, which was more enlightening. They've been in existence since 1895, and are now housed in this beautifully restored 1925 structure. They do the things that Freemasons do, but they do them in the way of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

Which means I'm still stumped.

This much I know: they have a Childhood Language Center, "committed to providing quality services to young children with speech and language disorders." And it's free.

So I haven't figured out the answer to the riddle of this sphinx. But whatever the Scottish Rite is, I'm thinking it's a good thing.

Happy Birthday, Charles Shaughnessy

How could I have lived in Pasadena all this time and not noticed The White Hut? It's not white but it's teeny, with a lunch counter and a few stools in addition to the tables outside. When I stopped in yesterday the cook was taking a break and was happy to talk. She said the Hut's been at 26 S. Madison Avenue for about 30 years, and was on Green Street near Los Robles for over 15 years before that. The lot it sits on now was purchased about two and a half years ago and is currently up for sale. She doesn't know what will happen next or when, so you'd better go get your burger now. Or your eggs, sunny side up. And hurry—I hear the place gets crowded.

Outside, I met Alice from Texas (left) and Theresa from Colorado (right). They arrived separately in Pasadena yesterday morning, having each made a special trip to see Emmy Award-winning actor Charles Shaughnessy in the Pasadena Playhouse production of "Orson's Shadow." Major Shaughnessy fans. Yes, one could say that.

Alice and Theresa met on Charlie's Myspace page, but this was the first time they'd met in person. They had tickets to the play for both Friday and Saturday nights. I gave them a list of my favorite places in town to check out during the days. (No, I didn't send them to Chuck E. Cheese.)

I will get to bragging about the world-class Pasadena Playhouse soon. For now, there's something more pressing. See, Alice and Theresa know a lot about Charles Shaughnessy. From what they said, he sounds like a great guy. And today's his birthday.

There are at least two die-hard fans in his audience tonight. For such lovely people to travel all that way to see him—well, that's a hell of a nice present. Happy birthday, Charlie!

(click photo to enlarge)

It Was Something Special

"I've had a long love affair with that house."

I hope one of yesterday's commenters, Palm Axis, won't mind being quoted. Before October of 2005, all of Pasadena gazed lovingly at the place while crossing the bridge or walking in the Arroyo. Yesterday I showed you the gate house with its windows boarded up. Here's what was left of the mansion after the fire. Even this is gone now. Only remnants of stairways, railings and stone walls remain. Still, we gaze.

The architect of this departed beauty, Paul Revere Williams, was himself something special. Among the many treasures he left us are the Shrine Auditorium (for which he helped prepare drawings in his early career), the Beverly Hills Hotel and over 2,000 private homes, many designed for the movie stars of his day.

Williams, who was African American, is said to have "remarked upon the bitter irony of the fact that most of the homes he designed...were on parcels whose deeds included segregation covenants barring blacks from purchasing them." (Quoth Wikipedia.) To learn more about Williams, read this fascinating article by Jennifer Reese.

Alas, I did not take this photo. It was snapped by contributor Dave Thomson (note where it says "award winning photographer"). Dave also took the PDP January 23rd photo, Bad Stunt Weather. Dave lives in Sun Valley, but he just can't stay away from Pasadena. I live here, but I don't walk my dog in the Arroyo nearly as much as he does. More of Dave's interests here. And speaking of something special, many thanks for the great photo.

(click photo to enlarge)

Silk Floss Shadows

Meet chorisia speciosa, the silk floss tree. They grow all around here. I grew up in Illinois. (Maples. Elms.) Flora-wise, moving to California is like landing on another planet. I wouldn't have known what to call this if I hadn't decided to post this photo, which forced me to look it up.

I found a pair of silk floss trees outside a famous Pasadena property. When we first moved here we marveled at the huge Tudor mansion we saw lording it over the arroyo as we crossed the Colorado Street Bridge. A few weeks later we gaped at the ruins when the home was destroyed by fire. (Some of the links in this article are dead, but there's a good photo of the fire's aftermath.)

Not much is left there now. But the gate house, its windows boarded, still stands, shadowed by two giant silk floss trees.

(click photos to enlarge)

Bragging Rights

Pictured here is the Millikan Library, named for Robert Andrews Millikan, an experimental physicist who joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in 1917, back when it was still called the Throop College of Technology. Millikan earned the 1923 Nobel Prize in physics "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect."

Before you start thinking Millikan was some kind of big deal, get this: more than one in 1,400 Caltech alumni have received the Nobel Prize. That's better than any other university, anywhere. Them's good odds. (Grammar's not a Caltech specialty.)

Other Caltech Nobel laureates include Linus Pauling (who received two Nobel Prizes: the Peace Prize and the Prize for Chemistry), William A. Fowler, Carl D. Anderson and Edward B. Lewis. Oh and a certain Albert Einstein was a visiting Caltech professor back in the day.

It's possible I could have a future Nobel laureate for a neighbor. Seriously. I already have a rocket scientist living across the street.

When I was in college, nerds were not cool. Times change.

Pasadena Votes

At election time, people often put a sign in their yard or window declaring who they're voting for (and who they want you to vote for). The people who live in this house just want you to vote.

A polling place can be a school, a church or even someone's garage. Late this morning we walked Boz to James Madison Elementary School to cast our votes on a few state measures, and in the presidential primary.

Today was the first time I remember having to stand in line and wait to vote. The poll workers said there had been a steady stream of voters all morning. As I waited, a young man came out smiling. I smiled back.

"My first time voting," he said.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" I said.

"Yeah. Feels good."

"It'll still feel this good twenty years from now," I promised him.

Wireless

Pasadena is well-populated with somewhere around 150,000 souls. We have street lights, telephone wires, strip malls and all the cement you could ever want. We also have more access to nature than most city dwellers do. Not just parks (although there are many outstanding ones) but actual hiking in actual nature. That's one (just one) of the best things about the place.

Looking northwest from the northwest edge of town—so far northwest, in fact, that you have to cross through part of Altadena to get there—you can see across La Cañada-Flintridge to the mountains of the Angeles National Forest.

"Everything north of town (once you cross Altadena) is the mountains of the Angeles National Forest," you say. Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wanted a picture free of cement, street lights and telephone wires.

(click photo to enlarge)

Big Doings

Last Tuesday I posted a photo of the entrance to City Hall and promised more pictures of that building. Today seems like a good day to post another.

It rained a lot last week (the yellow "caution" tape in the photo might be a warning about damp floors in the cloisters), but the day I visited City Hall was a bright day. In the interior courtyard, where the gardens have been newly planted, I caught this bride running after her groom. (As always, click on the photo for the best view). Was he running away from her, or would he be the first to arrive at their appointment?

Consider: high heels on wet sand.

Poppies at Parsons Plaza

Here's one of those places I drive past regularly, but rarely notice. (If we walked more often in southern California, we'd see more.) But flowers recently popped up on the plaza and I couldn't help but notice the place.

The flowers looked inviting, but a big, white office tower shadowed the plaza and a guarded lot was the only place to pull over. I waited until the weekend when there was no guard, to park in the driveway and get a photo.

So here's the plaza of the corporate headquarters of Parsons, 100 W. Walnut. From the "about Parsons" link on their website I learned Parsons was founded in 1944. It's a management, engineering, and construction company, and it's 100% employee-owned. I'm impressed by that. But that doesn't begin to tell you everything about them. The list goes on and on.

Theme Day: When You Think of Pasadena....

The Daily City Photo Blog community is having a theme day. "When people think of my city..." Each blogger interprets the theme and posts a photo.

I didn't manage to get it together in time to participate officially. Check out The Sky is Big in Pasadena, our other local daily photo blog, because Ben did manage to get it together in time. On his blog you'll also find links to the other participating blogs.

So my theme post is unofficial. I asked online friends around the world what comes to mind when they think of Pasadena. These answers always came up: the Rose Parade, the Rose Bowl Game, Arts & Crafts or Craftsman design, and old money.

Hmm. Combine those into one photo? Italianate design doesn't count as Craftsman, but as the former home of William Wrigley Jr. (of chewing gum fame) and the current home of the Tournament of Roses, the Tournament House fulfills the other requirements.

I highly recommend you browse the City Daily Photo Blog website, and give yourself a world tour. I find these sites enlightening, enriching, and more than a little addictive.

Perspective

We're standing on what the Thomas Guide calls the "Mount Lowe Mtwy." I don't honestly know what a Mtwy is. Mountainway? Sure, why not?

It's almost sunset. We're looking south and slightly west. Directly beneath us is Altadena; beyond that, the Glendale hills. Downtown Los Angeles rises in the distance (click on the photo to enlarge it).

Electrical towers carry their gracile cables across miles of these mountains. Our local trails meet up with them from time to time. Maybe the Mtwy is there so the towers can be serviced. In turn, it serves an uplifting purpose for a hiker who needs peaceful break from town.

The Rose Lady

I met this lady today while I was poking around the Tournament House taking pictures. She didn't want me to publish her name, but didn't mind her photo being taken. And she was proud of the garden. Tournament House, once the mansion of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., is Tournament of Roses HQ.

Roses aren't in season, but they need year 'round care. (At the Tournament House, they must look their best!) Today the Rose Lady was pruning the tree roses under the pergola. She said they were a bit ragged, but I couldn't tell.

The Rose Lady told me it's the job of the Pacific Rose Society to care for the Wrigley garden. As a member of the Society, she has worked in the garden for 21 years. It's a volunteer position, but the person in charge has to be a knowledgeable pro. The Rose Lady is the go-to gal.

City Hall

Pasadena's City Hall has been impressive for over 80 years (it opened in December of 1927). Since its recent retrofit and clean-up job, it positively sparkles.

$3.5 million bought some fancy materials in 1927. They used Alaskan marble to make the stairway treads, wrought iron for the balustrades and cast stone for the wall ornaments. And did you know that the dome, which is red fish-scale tile, was originally multicolored? I learned that from reading this. Oh yes—and within City Hall is a cloistered courtyard garden with a baroque fountain. You can bet there'll be more pictures to come.

Throughout history, edifices such as this one have been built to impress—perhaps even to frighten. When you approach an entrance like this one, you know you'd best behave.

Known for Our Architecture

It might surprise you to learn that across the street from this gem is a lovely, new-looking church. You might also be surprised that this "building" is on the main drag, Colorado Blvd. Yep. Rose Parade route. Bet the TV cameras missed this view. (Double-click to look at the posters close-up. Cigarette packs with sharks!)

From the looks of the lot, soon this will all be a memory. The empty house behind it is enclosed by the same chain-link. It appears a tear-down's a-comin'.

Pasadenans would say this photo's not fair. They'd be right. In recompense, I promise to put up a shot of at least one gorgeous local building this week.