The Bears and the Bees

Every summer bears venture down from the mountains into our north-east Pasadena neighborhood.   They are looking for food and every year there are reports of trash cans overturned or fruit trees raided.   From what I've heard, few people in the neighborhood ever actually see a bear and even fewer seem concerned about the animals.  Until this summer, I had experienced only one real bear encounter.  Early one morning a couple of years ago, our dog surprised a bear who scrambled up a tree and then watched me while I took his picture.  It was a fascinating morning. 

Well, this summer I had another bear encounter.   Actually, our bees suffered the encounter and I just watched.   Last year we kept bees without any incident.  No such luck this year.   Above is a photo of our little five-box high bee hive.  The hive had been healthy and happy all summer buzzing along and making honey.   At about 2 am recently I heard our dog barking and watched out the window as a bear stood on its hind legs, put its paws against the top of the hive and knocked it over.   The frames spilled out and the bear gorged itself on honey.  It was a sad, sad sight.

Amazingly, though, the hive survived, was put back together and moved to a new home.        

      

Anonymous Comment Leads to New Information About Pasadena's Lost Lincoln Portrait

President Abraham Lincoln by William F. Cogswell
White House Historical Association (White House Collection)

Three years ago I posted a short biography of East Pasadena pioneer and famous artist, William F. Cogswell.   I followed that with a post titled Mystery of the Missing Lincoln Portrait.  You see, Cogswell had bestowed upon the City of Pasadena a replica of his most famous work -- the official White House portrait of President Abraham Lincoln -- but the City had somehow lost the painting.   Just what happened to the painting is a mystery.  

Since the post, I've pursued the mystery with others.   Sure, some know about the missing Lincoln portrait.  But, no one has any theories about what happened.
 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I received an anonymous comment to my three-year old post.   Anonymous reported that the Albion Castle in San Francisco has a replica of Cogswell's famous Lincoln portrait.   Turns out Anonymous is right.   I found photos of the Lincoln portrait hanging in the Albion Castle at flicker and foundsf.   And, the portrait sure seems like a replica of the White House original (above).  

The Albion Castle was home to a less than successful brewery and seems an odd place for a Lincoln portrait.  Could  this be Pasadena's missing Lincoln?  Anonymous -- What do you think?

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I reviewed my records and poked around the Internet to see if I could learn anything new about Cogswell's Lincoln portraits.   How many replicas were out there?  Certainly Cogswell was an enterprising guy and I knew he painted replicas of his famous Lincoln portrait for the Hawaiian Royal Palace, the California State Legislature and City of Pasadena.   Were there more?
  

It is hard to know how many Lincoln replicas Cogswell painted.   The Pasadena PL has a 1961 letter from the Library of Congress stating that there were no records of Cogswell's Lincoln portraits.   A 1932 LA Times article stated, without source, that Cogswell painted 13 Lincoln replicas for states and three additional replicas for individuals.   But, I doubt the report.   If there were really 16 replicas, it seems like I could locate more than three with a basic Internet search.   Plus, Cogswell was a busy guy.  Seems unlikely he would take time to do 16 replicas.      

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So, is Pasadena's Lincoln hanging in the Albion Castle?   Yeah, I'd like to know how the castle acquired the painting.  It could be our painting.

But, it is going to be hard for Pasadena to point much of an accusing finger.   You see, Pasadena has a pretty strong track record of misplacing this painting.

We know from Cogswell's obituary in the Evening Star that, as of 1903, a replica of Cogswell's famous Lincoln portrait hung in the Pasadena Public Library.
  

But, we also know the painting was later removed from the library walls and placed in storage.  Seems the library had trouble finding a suitable place for the life-sized portrait of the 6"4" tall Great Emancipator.       

Then, a February 7, 1932 LA Times article reported the painting had been found.  The article, titled "Rare Lincoln Portrait Found -- Rare Oil Painting Discovered in Pasadena," reported that the portrait had been found in the library's storage loft.    The article stated the painting was in perfect condition and in a heavy gold frame.   The article announced that the painting would be displayed at the opening of the new Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
  

A 1961 letter from the Pasadena PL states that the Lincoln portrait was in the collection of Pasadena Historical Society.    That is the last word I've found on the whereabouts of Pasadena's Lincoln portrait.

Now, the painting is lost again.

Hard to say how you misplace a life sized portrait of Honest Abe.  But, Pasadena has managed to lose the portrait not once, but twice.   My guess is the portrait is not hanging in the Albion, but probably still somewhere in the city.    Maybe it is stacked in storage or hanging on a dark wall.  But, most likely it is here --- waiting to be discovered yet again.

Summer Scenes along New York Drive

There is a short stretch of fairly wild hillside land that runs along the east side of New York Drive directly across the street from Earthlink and the Eaton Wash Reservoir.   I am often surprised at what I see there.  I've seen deer enough times that I am always on the lookout for more.  And I regularly see interesting and colorful plants and trees.  Above is a cluster of Matilija Poppies pictured above.   

 Buckwheat. 

Dodder or Witch's Hair - a colorful but destructive parasite that is draping parts of the hillside..  

Elder tree with yellow-white flowers.  There are a number of Elder trees growing wild along New York Drive.  I'll have more on Elders in my next post.  

A Spider and a Lizard Tail

 

I'll save the lizard tail until the end.  Some might not think it as cool as a spider. (Is this a great post or what?)

First to the spider.   I don't go looking for spiders. But, sometimes they find me -- or their webs find me to be more exact.   And, when I run into them, after picking off the web, I can't help but think they are pretty amazing little creatures.

 

One of the spiders I see around here is an orb-weaver -- meaning the spider builds a circular or wheel shaped web.  The spiders seem to hang in mid-air with no conceivable support around them.  The spider pictured above is hanging on a web secured on a tree about six feet to one side and a post about six feet to the other.
  

 It is hard to get a good picture of a spider web.  This is a pretty good one.   

Here's our spider.  She's hanging out in the middle of her web waiting for breakfast.

OK.  Now for the alligator lizard tail.  

Last night I saw the dog "playing" with an alligator lizard and went to check it out.  Now the "play" here was all from the dog's perspective.   The lizard had not chosen to play and, no doubt, did not want that instant to play.   Anyway, the lizard so did not want to play, that it dropped its tail and scampered away.   The dog, being a dog, was captivated by the flopping tail and allowed its playmate to escape.  

I reached the scene in time to take this short clip of the lizard tail wiggling around.      

I've found lizard tails and seen lizards with regenerated tails but I had not seen a newly detached tail still wiggling.  Whether due to teenage whatever or lots of experience with detached lizard tails, my 13 year old was unimpressed.   But, I thought it interesting and was glad to have my camera with me.

Independence Day - Fireworks and Thunder

We celebrated Independence Day in the traditional fashion -- BBQ and fireworks.  What seemed odd, though, was the weather.   July heat is not news.  But, it sure seems that we are getting a lot more humidity than we used to.   It was hot and cloudy last night out in Chino (where fireworks are legal and sold on nearly every corner).   As we waited for the sun to set, it looked like someone to the west was getting rain.   

Letting Go

Watching my little girl scooter down the street to sleep over at her friend's house.

New East Pasadena Vons Hits Homerun

 

 Today I went to the new Vons on Sierra Madre and Colorado.  I like the store. I like it a lot.

For openers, samples are important in a grocery store.   That's one reason why Trader Joes on Rosemead has been a favorite.  In fact, around our house, TJ's is called "Samples."    But, frankly TJ's samples have gotten a bit tired.  Well, they had better take note -- the new Vons knows how to do samples!  I had eight different samples including New York steak, sushi, chicken enchiladas, fresh pineapple, chips and salsa, jambalaya and more.   My recommendation is to find the meat department for the steak -- it was really good.  

But, most of all, I like the design.   I like the respect paid to our most dominant scenic asset -- the San Gabriel Mountains.    The main Vons building is set back from Colorado and has as a central design feature a see-through arch that highlights the mountain views.  This building was very plainly designed with the mountains in mind. 

Care to preserve and emphasize mountain views should be a signature design element for any new East Pasadena development.  Too often building design ignores mountain views.   For example, just east of the new Vons on Colorado is a hulking multi-story storage/office building that was built-to-the-street and obliterates mountain views.  And the Sierra Madre Villa metro station seems to go out of its way to block mountain views.

Hopefully any new building in East Pasadena will follow Von's example and give due respect to our mountain views. Great job Vons!      

Above is a little reminder that the mountain views from Sierra Madre Blvd. can be spectacular.   The photo above is a winter-time shot taken a few blocks north of the new Vons.

Now, the new Vons has rooftop parking, which is convenient.   But it also provides unimpeded mountain vistas.  In the short time I was in the parking lot I saw one photographer shooting toward the San Gabriels.

I'm sure I'll be back to this store.