Bird Of Paradise

I have many things that I love about living on the West Coast, in a semi tropical environment. One of my favorites, is some of the plants that make their home here.

These plants are called Bird of Paradise and if you look at them closely, you can see how the flower resembles the head of a bird. According to Wikipedia, it is the flower of the City of Los Angeles. One reason is that it does especially well here, is because the plant is sensitive to freezing temperatures and that almost never happens in LA. I have 2 plants up here at my house and just when they were getting somewhere, flower wise, we had a real bad frost and they have taken years to recover.

It is not native to this area, but it has definitely made Los Angeles, its home. Especially in older landscapes, in and around the City itself. Newer suburbs that are designed by landscapers, tend not to have them. In my humble opinion, that is their loss. I planted them anyway. :-)

I hope you enjoy a look at some Bird of Paradise plants.

West Kill Creek

So, I sort of went with an Irene post...

This lovely stream is West Kill Creek and it runs through a former Girl Scout camp that me, my sister and our friends used to go to each summer. We spent many hours sitting on the rocks in the river, cooling off on hot summer days.
They had a flood event a few years ago and they had to add what they call "shoulders" to the banks of the river. I somehow have a feeling that after Irene came through over the weekend, those nice "shoulders" are now gone...along with more of the banks.

Reports are coming out of the upstate area, Windham, Tannersville, Phoencia, Cairo, Prattsville, Lexington, Hunter, to name a few. Small towns with lots of flood damage, whole towns flooded out, in the case of Prattsville. Most of these towns I spent my off hours visiting, when I became a counselor at the camp, in my final year.

If you want to read about some of the damage, click on Greene County.

I hate seeing damage anywhere, but it always hurts just a bit more, when it is somewhere you know.

Alcatraz

My Water Post For Today.

I have a bunch of flood photos coming my way, via Facebook. My thoughts to the many dealing with the aftermath of Irene...but I did not want to use one of them.

So I chose one from San Francisco. To take us away from the reality, for just a little.

The photo was taken from somewhere along Fisherman's Wharf. Pier 41, I believe. There is The "Rock", Alcatraz, sitting in the middle of the bay. Thankfully, not holding prisoners on it, anymore. Talk about a vacation buster. :-)

Enjoy the bay, and a beautiful sail boat, doing the same thing we were, enjoying.

Ainslie Elizabeth - Welcome

I was hoping for a photo, but it was not to be. So instead, I used the wall hanging above her crib.

Born on Saturday At 12:53PM was our friends from Phoenix's 3rd granddaughter.

Named Ainslie Elizabeth, she weighed in at 8lb 6 oz and is 20.5 inches long. Both mother and daughter are sleeping through the hurricane in New York, as of an update from the father, at around midnight last night. That being born thing wipes people out. :-)

She decided to be born right on her due date. I am sure that relieved her parents, who were sure she would come during the height of the storm.

Come back to this post later, when I get that photo.

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Update, no photo coming my way, for use on this blog. Maybe someday, but not now.

Irene's Coming

Unless you are living in faraway Africa, chances are you have heard about the imminent arrival of Hurricane Irene.
I have many friends and of course, my family right in the path of this hurricane and I am worried about them. Hopefully, everyone will make it through the other side. An extra special prayer to our friends from Phoenix's son and his wife. Her due date to have their first baby, is today.

I remembered that my Mom sent me photos after a particularly damaging hurricane, that took a similar trip up the Eastern Seaboard. it was Hurricane Gloria and the year was 1985. This photo was taken as the eye of the storm went over the house grew up in. My family was very lucky that the tree that went down, missed their house.


Interested in reading up on Hurricane Gloria, click HERE.

Back In East LA

While I was driving from my son's new college, I took the "scenic" route down Cesar Chavez Avenue, through beautiful East L.A. ;-)

At one of the corners, I saw this really interesting building. I don't know how it was done, but it was like the building was full of jewels. Shining in the early morning sun. They even painted the squares at the top and bottom of the windows on the second floor, a cheery red color. In case you do not know earthquake retrofitting, that is what the red squares are. Back in the 80's, LA forced building owners to upgrade. In this building's case, they needed to tie the brick wall to the structural elements inside the building, with bolts and these squares. I am not sure how long they will hold, but on my lot, we have 30 seconds to get out and away...but I digress.





A year or so ago, I took the Gold Line to East L.A. and walked a few blocks to the historic Jewish Community in Boyle Heights. At the time I had wondered to myself where Brooklyn Avenue was (as in the line, Meet me at Brooklyn and Soto). Since then, I found out that Brooklyn Avenue was changed to Cesar Chavez Ave. This sign in East L.A. actually mentions the old street name. I was glad to see that, though this intersection is with Eastern Avenue and quite a distance from Boyle Heights. If you click on the photo, you can hopefully see that it says at the bottom, formally Brooklyn Ave.

If you would like to revisit my post on the Boyle Heights area, you can read it HERE

Ruby Baby

Jerry Leiber, half the writing team of Leiber and Stoller, passed away this week, in Los Angeles. As a duo, they had an incredible catalog of hits that they wrote during the 50's and 60's, including Hound Dog, that was eventually recorded by Elvis Presley.
You can read all about them and him in this very well done article from the Daily News HERE.

Of all the Steely Dan and solo CD's by both Donald and Walter, the one I had the hardest one appreciating, was The Nightfly. I could never understand why, but thankfully for me, I got over that and it is now one of my favorites. :-)
One of the songs that Donald Fagen sang, was a cover of the song Ruby Baby, by Leiber and Stoller.

In a tribute to Jerry Leiber, I have a link to Donald's version HERE.

Enjoy Ruby Baby.

My Son Moves On To His 4 Year College

It is the dawn of a new era here at the Angel House. My son is starting to move on to his 4 year college, to get his Electrical Engineering Degree.
Yesterday he had his new student orientation. Trying to get a handle on what he needs and how to make this work for him.

One of the things we hope to do, is have him attend the school via train. His college is the only one that has a train station right on campus. Even though he has a car, the school is right to the east of the downtown area and there are no real freeways that go that way...except the I-5 as it goes through the downtown area. Not the best option for a college student trying to get to an early class.



He seems quite excited about the school and the people he has met so far.

Now if he can just lock down his courses, so we can unregister him at his 2 year Junior College...sigh.

It's always something.







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Photos:
#1 is the welcome gate
at Cal State University
Los Angeles.

#2 Is the main student entrance.
That is the Luckman Fine Arts
Complex over on the right.

#3 Is the Student Center.

Jerry's Soda Shoppe Loses It's Namesake

I mentioned him just a month or so ago. Jerry, the owner of the drug store with a totally cool soda fountain, has passed on. He was my Husband's first cousin on his Mother's side.

After their parents generation passed on, Jerry and his wife and family opened up their home each Jewish holiday, so that we would not grow apart.

He served on the board at the family Temple for years and even hired my brother in law, to lend a helping hand to him, during one of the many recessions. To say he had a big heart, is an understatement.

Their only granddaughter came late in life, but the past 2 years with her have been such an unexpected joy. You can see Jerry and his wife in happier times, at the baby naming of their beautiful Maisy, HERE.

The photo in this post, is a photo that was taken last year, when the family got together to see Anne Akiko Meyers perform at the Ambassador Auditorium. I love the way she was rubbing his newly bald head. The result of the chemo he was going through at the time. It is one of the families cherished images. In case you noticed...yes, that is me and my Husband in the background.


He will be missed.

Nantucket Race Week

My Water Post For Today.

A friend of mine from college usually summers in Nantucket, MA. This past spring, he sold his house and moved the family to a permanent home on Nantucket. These are his photos of how the harbor looks during Race Week.
Obviously, lots of boats moored (though he says there are not as many as in past years). The fact that he caught the sun rising, made me post this photo.

Never heard of Race Week? You can check out what Events occurred during the past 8 days.

All I know for sure is that today is clean up day. :-)




A photo of his "little" sail boat, with his flags flying proudly.
I am not a sailing type person, but he seems to love doing it and I love watching his posts about his adventures. All from the comfort of my home.

I hope you enjoy a glimpse of Nantucket Harbor.

Fantasia At The Hollywood Bowl

We got free tickets to an evening at the Hollywood Bowl.

Walt Disney's Fantasia is the highlighted event. Both my Husband and I love the marriage of classical music and Disney Animation and have owned the VHS for years.

Here is the blurb from the HB Website:

"Nearly 75 years ago, Walt Disney used the skill of his world-class animators to visualize the world of classical music. The result: Walt Disney’s Fantasia. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of our very own Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, John Mauceri returns to recreate this magic – an evening of selections from the classic film with clips on the Bowl’s big screen accompanied live by the orchestra. You’ll see your favorites, plus a glimpse into the brilliant artwork and unfinished segments of this Disney masterpiece. The evening ends with fireworks that complement the spectacular beauty of this cinematic triumph."

What more to say. It was fantastic!

I think the best part was that our much loved Conductor (John Mauceri) returned to the HB stage. We kept giving him standing ovations, which this humble man, truly loved.






The best part of the whole evening, for me, was when the part of the Nutcracker with the dancing Russians was played and the fireworks started to go off!

OMG, it was great!

All in all, a wonderful evening under the stars.


I love the bowl.

States I Have Visited

Earlier this year I went on and on about the fact that I had finally visited West Virginia. The fact that it was by train, didn't take away from the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains I passed through, or the rivers I viewed.

There is a site that allows you to mark what states you have visited. If you are so inclined, you can see it here. States Map.

In the past, I have colored in states on a piece of paper, but this is much cooler.

On my radar is trying to get that whole swatch of the northern US. Maybe take a train from Seattle to Chicago. I really want to visit Minnesota, so that would be a key stop.

In places that never were seen...

How did I manage to miss Oklahoma? I got close, maybe 50 or 60 miles away, when I was in Amarillo, TX in 1974. Then I got within about 40 miles of another part of the state, when I was in Dallas/Fort Worth...multiple times. Oh well, it will stay on that bucket list, along with Nebraska, which I don't see myself making a trip just to check it off my list. It was another state that I got within about 50 miles of, when we traveled through Topeka, Kansas (note that it was in the middle of the night on the train last year). I did wake up and I saw the very lit up capitol of Kansas, so I am calling that state done. :-)

My husband has been to Alaska AND Hawaii, so they are off HIS bucket list...but not mine. We do want to go to Hawaii at some time...but I am not sure about Alaska.

Sometimes it is good to check in on your personal log of visited states.

Take the time, to do so...and enjoy.

Spaghetti...And Everything

I got a few messages at work today. Unfortunately for me, I missed them until I was sitting in North Hollywood waiting for my bus.

The reason for the message was not a big deal. Just making sure it was OK for a group of my son's friends to make Pasta and sauce. I would have said yes, so all was fine.

I got home and this is what I saw in the kitchen.

That is 2 packages of sausage, lots of ground beef and some meatballs from my freezer. It was the most meat I have ever seen in a pasta dish. Most of it came from his other friends, so as he said, he didn't come up with the meat, but he ran with it. I guess I had mentioned the spices you need to add to sauce enough times, because he didn't have to ask.

Guess what...it was delicious and my son made it!

My Mom would be so proud.

I have a story about my Mom and her sauce.
One day she ended up sick and in the hospital. There we were, 4 kids and Dad needing food to eat that day. So my sister made sauce and it turned out green. Too much parsley, but we ate it anyway. I have never forgotten that. So that is why I keep reciting those spices to my son.

If you can make a good sauce, you will never starve. :-)

The House Is Finished

Finished! Finally!

After 2 1/2 weeks of dealing with a lack of doors and windows, we have our house back in operation.

All in all, I am pleased with the work...though I still wish the color on the stucco was a little less "vibrant". Oh well.

The garage door was even painted, to match the white trim and we think that looks quite nice.




I can't believe how wonderful the bay window came out. Now it looks like it came with the house. I am so happy for that.

If you can't tell, these photos were taken last night at sunset, so the color is not true at all times of the day.

This is the shade color.

Kick me if I say I am doing something else. No more work. We are broke.

Back To School Starts - Now

School begins for our Elementary Schools, including the one a half block from my house, this morning. That means as bad as it was getting out of my development, due to the resurfacing of the street, it is going to be a nightmare tomorrow! All the parents want to come to the school and make sure their child gets to class correctly. Lots of parked cars. Oy...

On Thursday the Junior High and High School go back and even more chaos reigns. I just can't wait...

My alma Mater, Oswego begins next Monday.
This is a statue of the founder of my college, Edward Austin Sheldon, in front of Sheldon Hall. The photo was taken at sunset last year, when my husband and I made a very short visit to my campus.

The return to school always makes me miss my school days...but only a bit.

Good luck to the students...they are going to need it.