Night Walk

I don't suppose I'd go out alone after midnight, but I'm glad Boz and I can walk in our neighborhood after dark. He likes the shadows, the sounds, the unexpected. I can do without the intrigue, but it's there.


(Don't mind me. I'm trying out new templates and styles to see what works.)

PB Phone Home

First picture taken with my new iPhone. I guess I'm not the only one who thinks it's Christmas.

So my brother called yesterday while J. and I were hiking out of cell phone range. When we got back into range and I saw the message I thought, "I know! I'll call him back!"

Yeah. I'm crazy that way.

You've got to have a phone--or at least I do. Yet since last year, when my phone began its downhill slide to iHell, I've put off buying a new one. We're having a recession over here and I'd rather save money for a vacation than spend it on a phone.

But it was getting ridiculous. John's tired of hearing about how slow the phone is, how bad the service is, how I can't download new apps because the operating system is too old. There's a tiny pocket of space in my office where I could make a phone call if I leaned sideways and didn't move my head, but mostly I've been going out to the median to make calls.

Yesterday, even that option was no longer available. When I stood by the road and tried to return my brother's call, my poor old iPhone decided not to be a phone anymore.

So I got a new one. And a new carrier (yahooey! that's a biggie). Then I called my brother. (The smiley face goes here.)

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.

Nature Wins

I'm trying to come up with something metaphorical to say about this photo.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Don't let things slip through the cracks.
It's the little things.

Maybe I should try to come up with something original instead.

Every day the world teems with traffic, marriage, war, shopping, hardship, heartbreak, love and death. Someone is rejoicing. Someone's going to work. Someone's being born.

Then one day a crack appears and sure enough, nature takes over.

Autumn in Orange Heights

I snapped this just because the light's pretty. Sometimes that's all I need.

If you enlarge the photo you can see the stone pillar on the right and the stone wall at center. Both are typical of Craftsman architecture in Pasadena. In this case I'd guess the pillar at right (part of a gate) is a recent addition and the wall is original to the house. These stones (locally called "river rocks") are everywhere you turn around here.

I've got a busy weekend getting ready for more than one celebration this week. What's to celebrate? So, so much. It has been a hard year for many--including some of my loved ones. Some of it's been tough for me, too. But as a friend told me today, it's easy to look at what's going wrong; she finds it healthier to look at what's going right.

It's blessing-counting time. Can you look around yourself and find the good things? Once I start counting blessings I can't stop.

What Now?

We had some excitement in the neighborhood yesterday. Lots of police cars, helicopters, noise. It went on for hours.

The action was on the next block. On my street we hung out with our neighbors in the front yards and wondered what it was all about. When John and I finally wandered over to ask what was going on it was all over, and I took this photo.

The wide shot gives you the neighborhood, the day. The street had been evacuated and the subjects were alone.

A closer look:
The uniformed officer on the left folds his hands in front of him. He seems almost deferential. The detective on the right leans on the cruiser, hand in his pocket, focused on the young man at the center of it all.

This young man, shirtless (easier to search), head hanging--what now?

I can't learn anything from the picture.

The Pumpkin God

There may be spookier decorations than those in the Orange Heights historic district, but no All Hallows' Eve display has ever captured my imagination like the Pumpkin God on Jackson Street.

That may not be his name, but surely he's some sort of pagan deity. In the darkness at the end of the road, he looms above his yard in all his ragged splendor.

Tonight, after the little ones have gotten their candy, I recommend a stroll down Jackson Street to give yourself a thrill.

Serendipity, Orange Grove Avenue

I was trying to figure the best way to get a picture of this building at 837 E. Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. It looks like a nice building, with its reflective windows framed by green tiles. I thought it might be worth a photo. It's empty right now and I don't see much about it on the web; it might have been a real estate office at one time.

Sometimes when I'm considering a subject I do a wide shot, then move in closer to find the best detail shots--kind of like in movies and TV when they shoot a master of a scene, then move in for two-shots and close-ups.

So this was the master. And this woman rode through on her Vespa or whatever it is and I had already clicked. I didn't realize she was smiling until I put the shot up on the computer screen. Aren't I lucky she came through? It makes a photograph out of something that, before her arrival, was only a reference for my files. I like that the photo is mostly greens and blues, even the woman's motorcycle, except for the pinks and tans around the woman herself. And there's that one-way sign so you can't miss her! But what I love most is that she's smiling.

It was all so serendipitous. Those who follow Glimpses of South Pasadena will know why I thought of Laurie.