South Pasadena Market, Thursday, June 18, 2015

Selling flowers at the South Pasadena Farmers Market.


After six straight days of intense attention to studies, it was time for a short break. Jim and I drove to Santa Monica for an interlude at the National Council of Jewish Women Thrift  Shop there, an all-time favorite. The staff people are a delight, they have great stuff, and lots of it. Then a quick lunch at home (aka hotel), a class on using Word to format papers for Antioch, and we were off to South Pasadena to meet a nephew and his wife for dinner at the Farmers Market.

Hazy San Bernadino Mountains on the way to South Pasadena. There are forest fires burning here, as there are in Alaska north and south of Anchorage, but today's haze was probably due to the atmosphere and not smoke.

An important feature of travel in LA today, especially on the west side of the city (our side), was that President Obama was visiting. That meant that numerous roads and freeway sections were either closed, or limited in access. We took the coward's way out, and headed to South Pasadena without taking any freeways. That worked fine, and we kept assuring ourselves that it was just as fast as the freeways would have been. Except that we got lost in South Pasadena and took as extra 45 minutes to go about five miles. That's life in LA.  Yes, we had maps and smartphones, but there were two intersections of Meridian Street and Mission, both close to train tracks, and both near Fremont.


But -- life is good. We parked directly in front of Buster's Cafe on Mission Street, across from the Market, and had one of the best-ever chocolate milk shakes with espresso.

People on the lawn across from the South Pasadena Historical Museum on Meridian Avenue.

Wares at the Market -- broccoli and cauliflower,

Uncle Irving's breads (one of several bakeries),

fresh figs (you know I bought a box of those, and we shared them for dinner),

apricots, oranges, apples, berries, cherries, greens, veggies, mushrooms . . .

We stopped in at the Museum, and took a look at the photos and artifacts from the ostrich farming days early in South Pasadena's history.

The Cawston Ostrich Farm (apparently the only one) had many thousands of ostriches, whose feathers were plucked by the millions in the 1890s for hats, boas, and other feather decorations. The eggs were used to make curios, but the birds themselves weren't eaten.

The volunteer who showed us around claimed that this boa was a hundred years old.

Near the museum was a stone structure with a memorial plaque.

Long lines for dinners -- tamales, sushi, crepes, corn on the cob (Joe, a true Iowan, started with that for an appetizer), and more. We bought food from the various vendors,

and found a shady spot on the lawn in front of the South Pasadena Public Library for a picnic dinner.

A market basket with flowers, carrots, and more. After dinner we split up, Joe and Jen to shop, and us to begin the long journey back to Culver City.

We stopped briefly to listen to a band that had settled in -- small boy on the drums, an accordion, a keyboard, and a bass fiddle. Behind the band is a twelve-foot (?) high metal sculpture of a striding man.

On the way west, the sky settled into sunset and then dusk, with a crescent moon.

 Market flowers -  blooming leeks, and marigolds.

School days -- June 11, 2015

The best find of the day -- a set lot for Sony Pictures Studios Production Services on Slauson Street. Everyone is in there (OK, no zombies that I can see) -- to the far left, a Buddhist or Hindu goddess, a couple of medieval saints, a variety of ancient Greek and Roman gods, a couple of Victorian children, a small horse . . . what conversations they must have as they wait for their next assignments. This is a couple of blocks away from the Antioch Campus.


Today was the official start of studentdom -- but not until 6:00 p.m. Before that, we slept in (catching up from jet lag), and explored our neighborhood.

Rain on a bench at a bus stop, early morning. The locals aren't very excited about a little rain -- they say that most of it runs into the ocean, and it would never be enough to matter. What matters is the snow pack, and unless that improves next year, the drought will continue.

A blanket of bougainvillea. The neighborhood is one huge business park area, with a number of corporate buildings, and a couple of malls, along with a few hotels and associated businesses.

Landscaped day lilies. Because the area isn't residential, the plantings tend to be less personalized (as in no one is saying, "this lily has been growing here for 30 years and I can't bear to dig it up even though it's scrawny"). These lilies were planted to make a Marriott hotel look good, and if they don't behave, they are likely to be replaced. Right now, they are in no danger of that.

This might be a jasmine bush; it's certainly fragrant enough.

Grasses, with a random Lily-of-the-Nile blossom.

Wildlife for the day -- a pair of squirrels, who chased across the 6-lane wide street, up into the pine tree, down the pine tree, up into the next pine tree over. Mating? They were tussling a bit in between the chases.

A set of sculptural trees, with concrete steps -- it has a quality of serene Greek gods.

Jacaranda mimosifolia, or "Blue Jacaranda Tree."

Antioch University, from a few blocks away.

The Antioch building courtyard -- not the standard collegiate quad.

Despite the manicured nature of most of the area, we did pass a few vacant lots given over to "weeds," aka interesting plants whose names I don't know.

We stopped at the Westfield Mall for lunch. It had a pleasant food court, and a well-used kids' area.

Along Sepulveda, a few random palm trees that have taken root next to the sidewalk.

Roses, speckled with pink.

More statues at the Sony Pictures Production Services.

Horses, and lampposts by the dozen.

Looking more closely at the palm trees, we see that their trunks are quite different from each other. On the top photo, the leaf scars step up the tree in an orderly fashion. On the lower photo, the trunk is vertically striated at the bottom, and the leaf scars are messy with fibers and strips of bark.

This must be the season for the Lily-of-the-Nile flowers, mostly this sky-blue with a hint of lavender, but some are white.

Surfin' USA -- June 10, 2015

We have arrived in the land of palm trees and surf. We are not especially coherent after a less-than-restful night on the airplane, but we did get to Trader Joe's to fill our refrigerator with breakfast foods, and then to dinner with friends in Manhattan Beach.

Colorful planes at Salt Lake City.

Foothills beyond the Salt Lake City airport.

It's been a while since we were at the LA airport, and things have changed. They are doing new construction of some sort, and to get from the end zone of the Delta gates to baggage claim involved half a mile of blank white-washed plywood tunnels with dystopic lighting. Other places when they're remodeling, they paint enticing signs that say, "Coming soon!" and tantalize you with photos of food or magical people dashing through grassy meadows. LA seemed to want you to be glad that you had finally arrived at a crowded baggage claim area, and an even more packed waiting zone for buses to the rental car offices. At the Budget office, at least there were benches for the luggage-watchers (me) to sit with a breeze while the car-renters (Jim) stood in line for another hour. It took longer getting to our car than flying from Salt Lake City to LA.

Nonetheless, there were palm trees outside baggage claim.

The afternoon was spent under the overcast skies settling into the Culver City hotel, napping, stopping at Trader Joe's for provisions (chocolate and berries, mainly).

Exotic flowers are everywhere.

Last year there might have been annuals in this planter and others -- this year, they are filled with sedums and grasses, plants that need little water.

We spent a little time at Manhattan Beach getting sand in the sandals and dodging skateboarders, watching beach volleyball games, cyclists, runners -- everyone but sunbathers, because the day was still cloudy with only a hint of sun in the late afternoon.

Surf, and

surfers, calling it a day.

We met our friends Andrea and Steve Miller for a delightful dinner.

Life happens out in the open in Manhattan Beach, much more than in Anchorage. This is a sculptor's house in the downtown of the community.


Tomorrow we will walk over to Antioch, exploring routes and resources along the way. The first class is tomorrow evening, and after that, I may be very busy for a while.

Maybe these are artichokes, showing their essential inner thistle-ness?