Details (#7)

Look around South Pasadena's beautiful old homes and you'll find enough little details to make the CEO of Restoration Hardware gnash his teeth in a jealous rage. There are antique light fixtures, water glass set in sash windows, century-old oak plank floors,old zinc locks and brass furnace grates and enough crown moulding to land a show on HGTV. It's pretty great to live around so much history -- the subtle, sweet history of home.

You'll find this glass knob on one of the drawers of my living room built-in. It's the drawer where I keep our everyday place mats. I wonder how many other things have been kept there? How many other hands have reached for this lovely little glass pull in the 111 years since my home was built?

Today, I wrap up my week of Little Details. Thanks for joining me as I looked closely at a few familiar things around town.

Details (#6)

I can't decide which South Pas neon sign I love most. There's the historic one above Gus's. There's the Fair Oaks Pharmacy sign above the door as well as the one around the corner that, if taken out of context, makes hipsters giggle and jab each other in the ribs. We can't forget the newer Parking sign on Meridian that seems to conjure images of Raymond Chandler characters. They are all great bits of colored light.

Here, Shakers lets us know that it will always provide us with breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's a lovely reminder. In fact, whenever I walk past this sign on the way toward the entrance, it makes my mouth water. We always think of neon as a beckoning from far away, but doesn't it look great up close?

I continue my week of Little Details -- exploring South Pas in a magnified view.

Details (#5)

Those Craftsman artisans sure knew what they were talking about when they insisted function blend beautifully into integrated form. These river rocks may serve the utilitarian purpose of holding up one of South Pasadena's century-old homes, but they also offer endless artistic inspiration.

I continue my week of Details, exploring the texture and nuance of familiar objects around town.

Details (#4)

What's not to love about every single detail of South Pasadena's vintage cars?

Details Week continues here at Glimpses. Join me as I take a closer look at some familiar things around town.

Details (#3)

In schools all over the city, you'll find little details that reveal our next generation's passions, hopes and dreams. These are the things you won't find on standardized test scores or report cards. They're not usually the most important topics of discussion among Tiger Moms or guidance counselors. These are the playful, expansive little details that so often get drummed out of us by the time we reach adulthood, eclipsed by "reality," and all its buzz-killing propriety, expectation and responsibility.

But in my opinion, these are the kind of details that matter most.

Little Bit likes to swim. Her classmates like to chase butterflies, eat chocolate chip cookies and find fairies under the bed. What do you like?

Join me this week as I take a closer look at little details around our city.

Details (#2)

I continue with a week of South Pasadena details. Here, cryptic words fade into an old picnic table at Garfield Park. "You and I will always be..."

What do you think? Were they always? (Are they still?)

Join me this week as I take a closer look at objects in our city.

Details (#1)

Welcome to a week of little details here at Glimpses. Let's take a look at some of the textures and patterns that make up the fabric of our town.

Today, I bring you a squirrel's eye view of one of South Pasadena's beautiful old sycamore trees. The camphors and heritage oaks get a lot of attention -- well-deserved, of course-- but these stately sycamores are worth celebrating, too.

Join me for a week of little details as I explore macro views of the objects around us.