Rain? No. Weeds? Yes. --- Stinging Nettle in the Yard and on the Table.

Most of our rain falls from November through March. We might get rain in other months, but generally you can count on rain during these months.  What you can't count on is how much rain we'll get.   From 1906 to 2020, rainfall in Pasadena averaged 19.7 inches per year.  Looking just at the last 30 years, the highest yearly rainfall was 55 inches in 2004-05 and the lowest was 4.17 inches in 2006-07.  This year (20-21), we are trending to the low end with only 5.66 inches of rain received by end of March.  

Rain or not, about February/March weed season starts.  You don't have to water them or care for them at all.  The weeds just appear.  One of the weeds we get in our yard is stinging nettle.  That's a healthy little patch of nettle pictured above.  The nettle is easy to spot with its bright green color and jagged leaves.

And, as weeding goes, a nettle is fairly easy to pick out of the ground.  Root and all, the nettle plant comes right up.  But, there is one thing about stinging nettle -- and that's the stingers.  The leaves have some barbs, but its the barbs on the stalk that can really get you.  So, gloves are good when picking or handling nettle.   

The fun thing about stinging nettle is that it automatically arrives in our yard every year and is a legitimate food source. With a little seasoning, nettle tastes good and it is also good for you.  Think of nettle leaves as kind of like spinach in that it is a dark leafy green packed with nutrients.  When cooked, the nettle sting goes away and you can handle the plant without fear of stingers.  There are lots of nettle recipes but we generally just pick off the leaves and use the fresh nettle leaf like we would spinach.  
 

January sky

 Since it never (or rarely) rains in California, we mostly have to trudge along with blue skies.  Sometimes, though, we get treated to a beautiful sunset.    

The Last Mandarin Orange

Today I picked the season's last piece of fruit from our Satsuma Mandarin Orange tree.  The tree starts bearing in late November and has given us a steady supply of sweet and juicy mandarins all the way through to today.  The great thing about these is that they are easy to peel.  The even greater thing is that they are home grown, we can walk out and pick one anytime from about November - February and they taste far better than anything you can buy at the store.   

The Satsuma Mandarin has been called the "perfect" fruit tree.  For citrus, the trees are hearty and are said to tolerate below freezing temperatures.  They are self pollinating.  And, best of all, the fruit is delicious, super easy to peel and has no seeds.  In our garden, they are also the first of the citrus to bear, which means come Fall the Satsuma Mandarin gives us the welcome first taste of sweet and juicy citrus for the season. The only downside is that the tree tends to be alternate bearing with a heavy crop one year and light one the next.  We had a heavy crop this year, so I'm thinking next year is going to be light.   

Below you can see the loose orange peel that just breaks away clean from the fruit.  

 

Garden Update

Our cara cara tree was prolific this year -- about 80 oranges.  We picked a lot of the bounty today, but have been eating them for some time. These oranges are, I think, better than the regular Washington navels.  They are just as sweet but with a light tanginess.  Less than a tangarine, but more than regular navel.    Plus the color of the flesh is this deep orangy/red.  

The cara cara has an interesting history.   They are thought to be a cross between a Washington navel and a Bahia navel orange that grows in Brazil.  The orange was discovered in 1976 naturally growing at Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela.  So, the cara cara was an unplanned naturally growing hybrid.  It has been grown in the US since the 1980's but is still a speciality item in stores and restaurants.

Here is the Kona Sharwill avocado I picked a couple weeks back.  It seemed ripe enough, so we cut into it today and had it for lunch. This was my first avocado from our 3-4 year old tree.  The seed is a little smaller than other varieties and I thought the taste was excellent, just a bit different from our Fuerte avocados.  Also, this was much easier to peel since the peel on the Sharwill is thicker than the Fuertes.  We have been eating the Fuertes since late December and it is fun to have a slightly different avocado to try. There are a few more fruit on the Sharwill and I am going to leave them for couple more weeks before picking to see if the taste changes at all.   

I am watching the stone fruit trees for flowers and our Eva's Pride Peach is first up.  This tree really produced last year and we had jam, ice cream and froze some peaches.  Hopefully around late June we will have some peaches off this tree.  

Hawaiian Avocado

Pictured above are five smooth skinned Fuerte avocados and one smaller deep green Sharwil avocado -- all from our yard.  Our Fuerte tree is mature and we've been eating Fuertes now for more than a month.  Our Kona Sharwil tree, though, was only planted a few years old and the fruit above is the first I've picked from the tree. That makes today a big day.

I am calling the Sharwil my Hawaiian avocado because the Sharwil avocado is what is primarily grown in Hawaii as a commercial avocado crop.  It is reported to be high in oil content and is "considered by some to be the worlds best" avocado.  One site says that USDA restrictions prevent shipping the avocado to the mainland for sale.   But, a Big Island grower says restrictions lifted in 2018 and they do ship Sharwils to mainland US.  Either way, I'm growing one here.

The Kona part of the name I get.  But "Sharwil?"  Apparently the avocado variety was first developed in Australia by Mssrs. Sharp and Williams -- hence the avocado name of "Sharwil."  Kind of disappointing to me.  I was hoping maybe it was a reference to Hawaiian royalty.

I haven't actually tasted a Sharwil yet.  The fruit pictured above is the first I've picked from our tree. Can't wait for it to ripen. 

Our Kona Sharwil tree has had some challenges.  Our Reed and Fuerte trees have done OK with days where we have unusually hot (116 a couple years ago) or cold (in the 30's for us).  However, the Sharwil is bit more delicate than those trees and two years ago it got badly burned.   It seems healthy now and I hope we get a bit more growth this year.  I planted the Sharwil and Reed at the same time and the Sharwil is now maybe a third the size of the Reed.  

  

New Years Eve - 2021

Like everything else, New Years was different this year.  On a typical New Years Eve, the day includes a visit to the Rose Bowl, to watch float decorating and enjoy all the preparations for the game and parade.  This year there was no parade and no game. New Years Eve could have been any other day of the year.  I saw a few tourists that were noticeable for their out of state school gear.  Otherwise, all I saw were the  normal joggers, walkers, bikers, and skateboarders. It was a beautiful sunny day.

So, instead of negotiating the crowds to watch floats getting their final touches, I walked around the stadium with just a few others around.  Turns out the Rose Bowl is a great place for pubic art.  Now good public art is fantastic.  But, in my opinion, too often public art just is not very good.  The Keith Jackson statue at the Bowl entrance is very good especially for those of us who remember Jackson's announcing career and even, like me, hear his voice in our head.  But, the Jackie Robinson statue is extraordinary.  It is the unusual statue and display that is itself worth the trip to see.  The statue depicts Robinson in the uniform and gear he would have worn when he played football for PCC in1937-38.  Of course, he was a four sport star at both PCC and UCLA.     

November Sunset from Cobb Estate

Looking for a late afternoon walk in the hills, and Eaton Canyon being closed unless you have a reservation to enter, I went up to the top of N. Lake and walked into the old Cobb Estate.  There is an interesting Atlas Obscura page on the Cobb Estate and the Marx Brothers' brief ownership of the estate prior to the home being torn down.  
 

Bobcat Fire 9-13

 Yesterday morning the smoke was so thick it permeated our house and was much worse outside.  This is yesterday's morning sun framed by eucalyptus branches.  Thankfully, the air cleared by late afternoon and we actually saw blue sky! The sky was clear enough to see the huge tanker jets making their east over the fire area and then circle back.  The fire has been burning since September 6 and has burned over to Chantry Flat.  The fire is only 6% contained and is going to be with us for a while.  Thankfully, we have had a break in the super hot weather and the highs this week are supposed to be near 90 or a little above.  That's a bit higher than the historic average September highs for Pasadena, which is 89.   

Bobcat Fire

 View looking toward East Pasadena taken from the office building at Colorado and Wilson.  The smoke has been exceptionally heavy particularly in the morning.  Smells like a camp fire.  This photo looks like an old time sepia.  Unfortunately, the photo is untouched.  To the right, I have reprised a post I did about the Chantry Flat fire that occurred in 2008 and threatened East Pasadena.

Summer 2020 Wildlife Update --Deer

Seems every year here in Northeast Pasadena we get a surprise or two.  This summer it was deer.  For the first time in our experience, we have had deer visit the yard.  I have seen this buck maybe half a dozen times  I have seen him on his own. I have also seen him with a smaller buck and, I think, have seen a doe with him too.   

They are beautiful very graceful animals and seeing them has been fun.  I think mostly they have chosen our yard as a shady spot to lie down under the trees.  But, I have seen them move too and this guy can bound over our fence with no effort at all.  Thus far they have done minimal damage. But, I have seen them eating the leaves off our fruit trees and our apple and young avocado have branches that the deer have stripped to the nub.  So, as fun as they are to watch, I have taken to moving the deer along when I see them in the yard.  

I would say bear activity in our neighborhood has been less than in recent years.  Late spring we had a bear cub break through a screened vent and crawl under our porch.  The bear eventually left and the screen was fixed.  We haven't had any problem since.  

Of course, when we first moved here, we did not have any bears around.  We kept chickens, had a small apiary and enjoyed fresh eggs and honey.  We took measures to protect the chickens from coyotes, but did not give bears a thought.  I have posted here about our experience with bears, which reached a low point in 2012 when a bear got into the pen and ate our chickens.    A year earlier, I watched as a bear took out our apiary.    So, we do not have any bees or chickens now. But, we do think about getting chickens again.  

Some other wildlife highlights from the summer:

Twice this summer, I saw a hawk swoop down not more than 10 yards away from me.  I have had this happen here before.  It is thrilling to see a hawk glide downward, ready to grab its prey, and then flap its wings and rocket right back up in the air.  

About dusk one night, as I walked by a large bush in the yard, I heard a faint rustle of leaves.  That's usually a lizard scurrying away, so I stopped and waited to see the lizard. But, there was no lizard.  Instead, I watched as, on the opposite site of the bush from me, a bobcat very quietly exited from under the bush and calmly walked to the fence, jumped up on the fence and then disappeared into the neighbor's yard.  We have seen bobcats here before, but it is rare and always super exciting.   

I have posted before about alligator lizards, which I always find fun to watch.  This summer's pandemic has put me in the yard a lot and I have a few new lizard experiences.  The best was two days ago.  I watched as an alligator lizard slithered out of some tall weeds and went nose down into a patch of freshly weeded dirt. The alligator flailed around in the dirt for a moment and emerged with an earthworm wiggling from both sides of its mouth.  Naturally, when I got my phone out to take a picture, the camera-shy alligator scurried away.

We have also seen and heard from the usual wildlife. We've heard the owls and coyotes (but not seen either).  I see a rabbit or two every morning and there are the squirrels, parrots and tons of doves we also see daily.  But, the real news this summer is the deer. 

Red-Crowned Parrot in Loquat Tree

This weekend a couple of red-crowned parrots flew into our loquat tree.  A clearer photo of a red-crowned parrot in a loquat tree is at socalparrot where there is also some good parrot info.  For example, our local parrots have not displaced native birds or damaged habitat for native species.  The reason is the parrots do not eat our native plants but rather the non-native plants (like loquats) that we grow in abundance in parts of southern California.  

Eucalyptus Trees at Sunrise

Orb Weaver - 7:30 AM- September 2019

This morning from 30 yards away, I saw this big orange spider seemingly hanging in mid-air.  When I got closer, the sun was just right and the spider's web came into clear view.  The detail on the web and the sheer volume of work required to create it is amazing.

Here is the same spider in the same general location a few days earlier.  Here it is hanging about five feet higher than it was this morning and the backdrop is blue sky rather than trees.   If you look closely, you can see that the spider has spun a web around its dinner.

Spanish Bayonet

You do not have to walk far into the local mountains to see one of these.  The bright flowers on these Spanish Bayonets stand out against the generally brown-green landscape.   It takes five years to produce a mature plant that flowers like this.  After flowering, the plant dies. These photos were taken on my hike a couple weeks ago through Eaton Canyon up to Henniger Flats.

The plant goes by many names -- Spanish Bayonet, Our Lord's Candle, Foothill Yucca and Quixote Yucca and Chaparral Yucca -- all of which make sense when you see the plant.   The botanical name, Hesperoyucca Whipplei, needs explanation.

The species is named after Ameil Weeks Whipple.   An Army engineer, in 1856, Whipple was ordered to lead an expedition from Little Rock, Arkansas to Los Angeles to plot a railroad route along the southern part of the country.  Whipple surveyed a route that that traversed Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, which route was later used for the famous Route 66.  After his expedition, Whipple surveyed the Mexico-US border and then worked to improve naval navigation through New Orleans and the Great Lakes.   When the Civil War started in 1861, engineer Whipple created maps that guided Union forces into battle and provided Union generals reconnaissance by going up in hot air balloons that floated across Confederate lines. He also fought in the battles of Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville, where he was mortally wounded by a Confederate sharpshooter.   He died in 1863 with the rank of Major General. He was 44 years old.      

Bears in Trees

Living toward the north east end of the City, we see bears in the neighborhood.  Occasionally, they will be in trees.  The first bear we saw here was in  a tree, having been chased up the tree by our dog.  Since then, we have seen more bears in neighborhood trees.   This weekend, we saw another bear in a tree.    Here, the bear is starting to climb up a vertical trunk of a pine tree.

Here is the bear further up the tree.   Hard to see him from here.    But, if you zoom in....

There's the bear.  Kind of looks like the bear is growing out of the tree.

Snow in East Pasadena

Snow in Pasadena?   Didn't last long, but that is what it was.    You need to enlarge the video to get the full effect.   

Palm Tree, Power Lines and Eucalyptus

Through the trees and wires last night at sunset.

Henninger Flats Hike from Eaton Canyon

 This morning I walked into the Eaton Canyon Natural Area and just kept going.    I walked through the parking lot, around the native garden, on to the wide trail that leads down to Eaton Wash, then on to the steep Walnut Canyon trail which leads to the Mt. Wilson toll road and on up to Henninger Flats.

This is the view from Henninger Flats.  The view is expansive.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see St. Lukes in the foreground, downtown Pasadena and downtown LA at the middle left and if you look hard toward the center of the photo there are the vague outlines of Catalina Island with its two conical hills.   Directly westward, toward Santa Monica, you can see the Pacific Ocean.

 The Mt. Wilson toll road dates back to 1891.    All the way up the road, you can look down the mountain to see tiny cars traversing the streets below.   I thought this contrast was interesting -- the old dirt toll road on the left somewhat paralleling the shining sliver of 210 freeway down below.  The freeway is the white line toward the upper right of the photo.

Though not an easy hike, I crossed paths with many other hikers, some runners and a few mountain bikers.   Here's a mountain biker making his way up the trail in the face of the morning sun.

Mountains on a Fall Morning

Fall is here.  No, we don't have biting cold weather or crimson leaves lining our streets.   But, we have the San Gabriel Mountains.  It is a constant in the San Gabriel Valley -- always the backdrop of the mountains.    And, early on an October morning, the air a cool low-60's, sometimes the clouds will bank against the mountains and mingle with the sun to frame a wonderful mountain vista.   The photo above was taken driving north on New York Avenue, just above Sierra Madre Blvd.     Photo by my favorite photographer.

Bobcats and Rabbits

 I was surprised early today to see this bobcat.  It may be the same one I saw in June, or possibly a different one.  Either way, I watched as this cat walked the very same route as the one in June --  across our yard, jumped up on the fence and then disappeared into the neighbor's yard.   I got a better look this morning and these truly are beautiful animals.    There is an excellent up close photo of a local bobcat at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center site.

Here's a diagram from the National Park's Santa Monica Mountains site showing the relative size and color differences of a mountain lion, bobcat and house cat:

As you can see from the photo, bobcats are about twice the size of domestic cats and much smaller than mountain lions.  Here are some interesting area bobcat facts courtesy of the Santa Monica Mountains site and Urban Carnivores:  

Bobcats are found through out the continental US, most of Mexico and some of southern Canada.  The average bobcat tips the scales at about 18 pounds.   They are primarily nocturnal and the best times to see them are early morning or dusk.    Bobcats are solitary and territorial with males marking a territory of about 3 square miles and females with territories of 1.5 square miles that overlap with males' territories.   For reference, a square mile is 640 acres, so these cats cover a lot of ground.   Bobcats are adaptable and can live on the urban edge, provided they find food.

Which brings us to the bobcat diet.   They're carnivores and eat the prey they catch.    That prey can be birds, lizards, squirrels, gophers, rats, or any small animal.   But, the primary prey and primary food for bobcats are rabbits.   Perhaps not so coincidentally, just this summer I have started seeing more and more rabbits scurrying about the neighborhood, including this one:

 

Recent Wildlife in the Yard

Seems we have lots of alligator lizards and I've posted more than a few photos of them on this blog.   One thing about alligator lizards -- they're always going to give you attitude.

This  is a young bear we've seen several times already this  year.  They look sleepy and lumbering until you see them climb a tree.   They are very agile and can easily go straight up that pine tree in this picture.

The picture is poor, but this  is a bobcat we watched calmly walk across our  yard, jump up on the fence and  disappear into  the neighbor's yard.   This is maybe the third or fourth time we've seen a bobcat here.  This was a brief but fun sighting.

Over the Fence - East Pasadena Sunset

Last Night's Snow on San Gabriel Mountains

Palm trees, sun and snow.  View this morning from Wilson and Colorado Blvd.

Christmas at Pasadena's Historic Sierra Madre Villa Hotel

 

                                 Sierra Madre Villa Hotel ca. 1886
                                 By Carleton E. Watkins
                                 Courtesy of the California History Room
                                 California State Library, Sacramento, California


There is nothing like Christmas through a child's eyes.

William Lauren Rhoades grew  up in the 1870's and 80's at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.   His dad, William Porter Rhoades, was the proprietor of the Villa and co-owned the Villa along with his father in law, artist William Cogswell.   At the time, the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel was a famous West Coast resort located in the foothills of what is now East Pasadena.   The hotel is the namesake of Pasadena's Villa Street and present-day Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, which served as the access to the old hotel.

William Lauren Rhoads retained an interest in local history and, as a retiree, was active in local historical societies.   In about 1930, William recounted the history of the Sierra Madre Villa in a short book titled History of the Famous Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.  In the book, he describes what Christmas was like at the Villa.   The story includes a donkey named after his mom, a giant Christmas tree and more.          

I enjoy Rhoades' account and it is worth revisiting.  So, without further adieu, let's travel with Mr. Rhoades back to East Pasadena in the late 1870's.......    

From The History of the Famous Sierra Madre Villa Hotel by William Lauren Rhoades:

When Christmas time rolled around the real fun began. I will describe a typical Christmas day in the late seventies. The day before Christmas was one of excitement for all were preparing the gifts, some driving into Los Angeles, a thirty mile drive, to get the last few gifts needed and to shop for all the rest and only about two dry goods stores, two book stores and a few other places to purchase but that made it all the more exciting. There was a tree to sit up fully nineteen feet high, that was the height of the ceiling, and a spread of branches in proportion. Then the trimmings, popping the corn and putting on the cornucopias, hanging the glass balls and the angel on the top. That day the Chinese boy, Sam, made mysterious trips to Mother's room with packages coming from the servants and Chinese on the ranch.

Christmas morning was always the opening of an eventful day. I well recall Christmas of 1878. After breakfast I was taken out to the front of the house and there stood my donkey, which was given me two years before to ride and I named her after my Mother, Jennie, and there she was hitched up to a two wheeled cart made to order with a swell leather seat, the running gear was painted red and the body black, the harness was black with shining brass buckles. The guests all stood round enjoying my delight. I took Mother in at once and we drove off in style and many were the happy days I had with the children at the Villa in that turnout.

Christmas morning the coach that ran to the San Gabriel Southern Pacific Railroad Station daily for the mail and passengers, was ready to take any who might wish to go to the Episcopal Church in San Gabriel, as was the custom on Sundays. Then the day passed and all were in readiness for the big event in the evening with the Christmas tree.


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Rhoades goes on to describe the evening festivities that took place in the hotel parlor with the Rhoades family and hotel guests attending. Christmas carols were sung and the tree was "stripped." There was a gift exchange with Villa's many Chinese workers. Rhoades reports that, to the delight of hotel guests, the workers would enter the parlor with a flourish. Dressed in fine silks, the workers had "their heads freshly shaved with their cues hanging down their backs with red ribbons braided into their hair." They came bearing gifts of sweet lichi nuts, ginger and dainty cakes. In turn, the workers were given a fattened pig for roasting.

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If you're interested to know more about the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel, I've a dozen or so posts on the Villa that are categorized under the Labels heading on the right side of this blog. 

Alligator in the Avocado

We see many alligator lizards around here and I've posted about these reptiles before.   This is the first time I have seen one in a tree.   It is a little hard to spot, but this alligator lizard has kind of wrapped itself on the limb of an avocado tree. 

July 4th -- America the Beautiful

In 1893, poet and Wellesley College professor, Katharine Bates, came west to teach summer school at Colorado College.   The young professor was inspired by her train trip from New England, a trek to the top of Pikes Peak and by the fertile expanse of this country.   She penned a poem that first appeared in the Congregationalist magazine to commemorate July 4, 1895.  Bates continued to revise the work and, in 1911, arrived at the  final version of the lyrics to America the Beautiful.

Bates continued writing and teaching and passed away in 1929.   After it was published, her poem was quickly put to music and became enormously popular across the country.   Through her life, the professor, gave free permission "hundreds and thousands" of times to  use her American the Beautiful lyrics.   Later in life, she reflected on her poem's enduring popularity.   She wrote that the “hold as it has upon our people, is clearly due to the fact that Americans are at heart idealists, with a fundamental faith in human brotherhood.”

America the Beautiful 


O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Bear Damage

Our first bear damage of the season -- broken fence stringer.  The lower rung of the fence was no match for the weight of the bear.   CA Fish and Wildlife says black bears typically weigh 100-200 pounds for adult females and 150-350 pounds for adult males, though California black bears have been weighed at more than 600 pounds.  These are big animals. 

How do I know it was a bear that  broke the fence?   Well, ,our trash can (with bear proof latch) was knocked over and there was a pile of bear poop steps from the fence.   

Remembering Winter Rains

Before we get too far into summer, I wanted to recall the winter rains.   We rarely get rainbows here, but with all  the rain, we had them in February.  

Sunrise Over East Pasadena

Sunrise earlier this week, looking east from my office near Lake Ave. and Colorado Blvd.  Among the many benefits of last week's clouds and rain.

An Afternoon with My City in Your City

View from the Green House at Zorthian Ranch,
overlooking Altadena, Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending a "My City in Your City" brunch presented by architect David Wolf.   As was appropriate for the subject, the event was held in the foothills overlooking Altadena and Pasadena.

Wolf related the story of "My City," a 1916 exhibit in Pasadena designed to secure public input for future plans for the city.  The exhibit ran for six weeks and was attended by more than 8,000 people.   Quite a turnout considering the entire city population back then was about 40,000.


Mr. Wolf's presentation is entertaining, educational, insightful and inspiring.   He has reached back in Pasadena history, found greatness, and brought it forward for our use today.    There is a lot to take away from the My City story.   More information is at the My City website and Facebook.  

************************* 

The presentation reminded me of just how highly residents of a century ago regarded this city and how lofty were their ambitions.   Materials included a 1916 Pasadena Star News article describing the My City effort.  The Star News writer, Henry James, refers to Pasadena as "one of the beauty spots of the continent" and goes on to describe the My City experience as one that will "obtain the cooperation of the citizens in choosing the best out of the good; in deciding what shall be done first and of proving to them that it is within their power to do anything they please."

I was also reminded of "Imagine a Great City," which was the theme for public meetings in the early 1990's which led to the 1994 Pasadena General Plan.    As a relative newcomer to Pasadena, I was taken by the theme -- it invited creativity and communicated a public spirit, enthusiasm and expectation that we could help make Pasadena that great city.    Maybe it wouldn't work in other cities.  Others might aspire to be good cities or nice cities.  But, with it's beautiful natural setting, its neighborhoods, trees, Civic Center, remarkable history, and past example of reaching for lofty goals, it seemed fitting that Pasadena would aspire to be a great city.                          

First Bear Sighting of 2017

I came home last night to find a bear in my front yard.   As I got out of the car and walked toward the house, I heard a scratching sound and looked left to see a small black bear.   The bear was slowly climbing the trunk of a pine tree.  

Past posts on this blog roughly describe our experience with bears in this East Pasadena neighborhood.  When we moved in 14 years ago, we did not see any bears.   For many years, we kept chickens and an apiary without problem.    In 2009 we had our first real bear encounter when our dog chased a bear up a tree.    In 2011, I watched a bear take down our apiary, and in 2012,  a bear broke into our chicken coop and killed two of our chickens.   Bears have also caused an array of property damage.    And, back when we had chickens, I quickly turned a corner one day to come within ten feet of a very large up-right bear.    That was more than a little unnerving.   But, the loss of our chickens was the major turning point.  We may try again, but for now, bees and chickens are out.

At this point, we know bears are in the neighborhood and we may see bears several times a year.  The bear last night, though, was unusual.   From his size, we gathered that the bear was a yearling.  When you see a young bear, the first thing you look for is the mother bear, who should be close by.   However, we did not see the mother bear or any other bears.   The young bear seemed to be on its own.

I went into the house, leaving the bear sitting on a tree branch.  Later, I checked outside and the bear was gone.        

2017 Rose Parade -- From Sierra Madre Blvd.

Lizard on the Cal Poly SLO float

We ventured over to Sierra Madre Blvd. to watch this year's Rose Parade.  It was a fun time, as usual.   We enjoyed the pooper-scoopers, the surfing dog, the floats, the bands, and the horses (probably in that order).   And the Grand Marshals provided some extra excitement when their cars stopped right in front of us.   As the crowd cheered, one of the honorees scrambled out of their vintage convertible and dashed into one of the porta-potties behind us.   A funny unscripted moment -- at least from the crowd's perspective.

Cal Poly always produces clever and colorful floats.  Their floats are also distinctive because they use California grown flowers.   A press release from the California Cut Flower Commission commended four floats from this year's parade for using California grown flowers.  Floats from Cal Poly, Miracle-Gro, FTD and Real California Milk, all were decorated in flowers and greenery grown in-state.  

It is uncommon these days for any Rose Parade float to use California grown flowers.   As PSN"s Steve Scauzillo wrote last year, most of the flowers in the Rose Parade are from overseas.   About 80% of the flowers used on parade floats come from South America or Asia.  (Why do so few Rose Parade floats use California-grown flowers?)   By using cheap labor, growers overseas can sell flowers at much lower cost than domestic growers. 

The California Cut Flower Commission's release  recalls another time.  The release points out that "The Rose Parade originated in 1889 to showcase the bounty of what is grown in California during a time of year when much of the country is covered in snow."  As the Tournament of Roses puts it, the Valley Hunt Club conceived of the parade as an event to follow an array of outdoor games.  "The abundance of fresh flowers, even in the midst of winter, prompted the club to add another showcase for Pasadena’s charm: a parade to precede the competition, where entrants would decorate their carriages with hundreds of blooms."  

Though a wildly successful international event accompanied by all manner of glitz and fame, the parade's inspiration was rooted in Pasadena's natural and cultivated beauty.  That's worth remembering. 

Christmas at the Sierra Madre Villa -- circa 1878

 

                                 Sierra Madre Villa Hotel ca. 1886
                                 By Carleton E. Watkins
                                 Courtesy of the California History Room
                                 California State Library, Sacramento, California


There is nothing like Christmas through a child's eyes.

William Lauren Rhoades grew  up in the 1870's and 80's at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.  His dad, William Porter Rhoades, was the proprietor of the Villa and co-owned the Villa along with his father in law, artist William Cogswell.  As an old man, William Lauren recounted the history of the Sierra Madre Villa and wrote about the Christmas of his childhood.   The story includes a donkey named after his mom, a giant Christmas tree, and a gift exchange between the two cultures that lived full time at the Villa -- that of the Rhoades and Cogswell families, who had migrated west from New York, and that of a group of Chinese men, who had originally migrated east to work on the railroads and then staffed the Villa.       

I enjoy Rhoades' account and post it read it every year.   So, without further adieu, let's travel with Mr. Rhoades back to East Pasadena in the late 1870's.......    

From The History of the Famous Sierra Madre Villa Hotel by William Lauren Rhoades:

When Christmas time rolled around the real fun began. I will describe a typical Christmas day in the late seventies. The day before Christmas was one of excitement for all were preparing the gifts, some driving into Los Angeles, a thirty mile drive, to get the last few gifts needed and to shop for all the rest and only about two dry goods stores, two book stores and a few other places to purchase but that made it all the more exciting. There was a tree to sit up fully nineteen feet high, that was the height of the ceiling, and a spread of branches in proportion. Then the trimmings, popping the corn and putting on the cornucopias, hanging the glass balls and the angel on the top. That day the Chinese boy, Sam, made mysterious trips to Mother's room with packages coming from the servants and Chinese on the ranch.

Christmas morning was always the opening of an eventful day. I well recall Christmas of 1878. After breakfast I was taken out to the front of the house and there stood my donkey, which was given me two years before to ride and I named her after my Mother, Jennie, and there she was hitched up to a two wheeled cart made to order with a swell leather seat, the running gear was painted red and the body black, the harness was black with shining brass buckles. The guests all stood round enjoying my delight. I took Mother in at once and we drove off in style and many were the happy days I had with the children at the Villa in that turnout.

Christmas morning the coach that ran to the San Gabriel Southern Pacific Railroad Station daily for the mail and passengers, was ready to take any who might wish to go to the Episcopal Church in San Gabriel, as was the custom on Sundays. Then the day passed and all were in readiness for the big event in the evening with the Christmas tree.


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Rhoades goes on to describe the evening festivities that took place in the hotel parlor with the Rhoades family and hotel guests attending. Christmas carols were sung and the tree was "stripped." There was a gift exchange with Villa's many Chinese workers. Rhoades reports that, to the delight of hotel guests, the workers would enter the parlor with a flourish. Dressed in fine silks, the workers had "their heads freshly shaved with their cues hanging down their backs with red ribbons braided into their hair." They came bearing gifts of sweet lichi nuts, ginger and dainty cakes. In turn, the workers were given a fattened pig for roasting.

 ********

The Sierra Madre Villa Hotel was a famous West Coast resort located in the foothills of what is now East Pasadena.   The Hotel is the namesake of Pasadena's Villa Street and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, which served as the access to the old hotel.   If you're interested to know more, I've a dozen or so posts on the Villa that are categorized under the Labels heading on the right side of this blog. 

Snakes and Lizards

 We were treated this weekend to something we don't often see - a striped racer snake.   We saw one many years ago hanging out in bushes near our house.  Saturday we saw this small striped racer on our brick patio.  

 Stripped racers are also called California whipsnakes.  They are very quick, as this one was, and live in California's coastal and foothill areas.   The Eaton Canyon site has a nice photo and write up.   California Herps has a number of captioned photos of stripped racers and the lizards they prey on.  Stripped racers are known to tangle with alligator lizards.   Probably not coincidentally, we've had an abundance of lizards this summer, including this alligator below. 

Mystery of Pasadena's Missing Lincoln Portrait

 In recognition of Presidents' Day and a recent contact I received from descendants of East Pasadena pioneer and artist William Cogswell, I'm reprising a September, 2008 post.    The post tells the story of a rare portrait of Abraham Lincoln that Cogswell painted and gave to the City of Pasadena.  City records and an Evening Star article documented the portrait.   However, sometime after 1961 the portrait vanished and its disappearance remains an unsolved mystery.

Now, let's see if this old blog still works.  

 

In an earlier post I presented a short biography of William Cogswell, the famous artist and founder of the Sierra Madre Villa. Cogswell was an amazing guy -- a self taught artist, a 49'er, painter of Lincoln, Grant and others, and an East Pasadena pioneer. The post includes a photo of Cogswell's most famous work, his portrait of President Lincoln, which is the official White House portrait of Lincoln, and today remains as part of the White House Collection.

Cogswell's obituary ran on page 1 of the Pasadena Evening Star December 26, 1903. The full obituary is here. The title and lead refer to a Cogswell painting that was a replica of his famous Lincoln portrait and says that the painting hangs in the Pasadena Public Library.

In fact, the enterprising Cogswell appears to have painted at least three replicas of his White House Lincoln portrait. One of the portraits is in the California State Capitol in Sacramento and hangs over the Speaker's podium in the Assembly. Correspondence in the Pasadena PL's Cogswell file indicates that a another portrait hung in the Royal Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii. (In 1890 Cogswell travelled to the islands to paint Queen Liliuokalani and Hawaiian royalty).

A third Cogswell replica of his White House Lincoln portrait was in the possession of the Pasadena Public Library and the Pasadena Historical Society. It appears the Lincoln portrait hung in the library from at least 1903 to 1961. A 1961 letter to the Pasadena Public Library and correspondence with the Library of Congress and Frick Art Reference Library state that Cogswell's Lincoln portrait belonged to the Pasadena Historical Society and was hanging in the Pasadena Public Library.

But, sometime after 1961, the portrait seems to have vanished.

So Where is the Lincoln Portrait Today?

After learning Cogswell's story and that of Pasadena's Lincoln portrait, I wanted to see the portrait. How incredible, I thought, that our library should have one of the few replicas of Cogswell's official White House Lincoln portrait -- a replica like the one hanging in the California State Assembly. And given Cogswell's connection to Pasadena's pioneer days, I thought it very appropriate that the library should have a replica of Cogswell's most famous portrait.

So I went to the library to see the painting. But, there was no painting. I called the Historical Museum and the city. But neither had any record of the painting.

I emailed the Hawaiian State Archivist asking about the Lincoln portrait in Hawaii. But the archivist emailed back stating they had no record of Cogswell's Lincoln portrait.

So, we seem to have a mystery. Based on Cogswell's obituary and the 1961 correspondence, we know that from at least 1903 to 1961 Cogswell's replica of his famous Lincoln portrait hung in the Pasadena Public Library. Based on the 1961 correspondence from the Hawaiian Historical Society, we know that Cogswell left another replica of his famous Lincoln portrait in the Royal Palace. It wouldn't seem that such paintings could just vanish, but that is what seems to have occurred. So, where is the Lincoln portrait that hung for so many decades in the Pasadena Public Library?