Ghostly

I've always loved the way the Eddie Park house looks at night in black and white...

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So Many Parks, So Little Summer...

Kicking it at South Pasadena parks...

When Jon and I moved to South Pas 8 1/2 years ago, our daughter -- who many longtime readers still think of as Little Bit -- was only 2.  That meant many, many, MANY sunkissed afternoons spent in local parks.  

Of all the choices in South Pas -- from the newish playscapes at Lower Arroyo to the vast, green goodness of Garfield -- I was partial to Eddie Park.  Little Bit is 11 now,  and totally over "the park with the outdoor fireplace and the good slide," but occasionally she will still appease her mom and go there to kick around a soccer ball.  (Before wanting to head home to play Minecraft.  Tweens!)

Eddie Park is a quaint, quiet Marengo neighborhood park with a stretch of grass just right for tossing the frisbee or having a picnic.  It rests on the lawn of an elegant, moody old house that looks like it should be inhabited by the ghosts of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.  Go there for a charming little hideaway picnic or, if you have a 2 year old, a good slide.

For a peek at all the other parks in South Pasadena, check out my video above.

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Noir Week (#3)

“It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.”
― Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

Noir Week continues here at Glimpses. Join me as I lurk around in the shadows for a few more days.

Eddie Park: Monochrome

South Pas has always struck me as such a technicolor city. Lately, though, I've enjoyed revisiting familiar locations with an eye toward black and white. It definitely changes the tone of things. In fact, in this shot our happy little Eddie Park seems a bit too austere. (Quick! Somebody kick a red ball out there into the lawn!)

Beware

In case you were wondering, I have it on good authority* that a troll lives under this bridge. A mean one. With fangs.

*Little Bit. (Hey, 6 year olds know this stuff.)

Still, it's a cool fireplace...

When I spotted this whimsical chalk addition to the old fireplace at Eddie Park, I thought it would make an interesting photo for a blog post about summer. Something about how summer is lazy and whimsical, filled with daydreaming and make believe and playtime...

Playtime.

With your six year old.

Your six year old who is home from school but still getting up at 6:00AM with all the energy of opening day at a cheerleading convention.

Your six year old who is convinced that playing should involve lots of running. Outside. When it's hot. With you!

So, I realized that I have nothing to say about this photo because there is NOTHING lazy about summer if you're a parent. How long until September again?

Joy

The preschoolers playing at Eddie Park the other day were sweeter than new spring flowers. And speaking of sweet, new spring flowers ... let's take this moment to congratulate our pal San Diego Farmgirl on the birth of her beautiful baby boy!

Close Up

I love the front door of the Eddie Park house. It's just so cinematic. And speaking of cinematic, check out my latest column at Patch, which should be posted sometime before lunch Pacific Daylight Time. It's all about filming in South Pasadena. (See? I'll bet you all thought I was going to ask you to play the "if this were a setting in a movie, what would happen here" game. Well, now that you mention it...)

Halloween is Coming (Part 5)

I've always imagined ghosts living in the old Eddie Park mansion. In my mind, they're playful, sweet and a little reckless, just like Cary Grant and Constance Bennett in the Topper films. What do you think?

Free Ball

A group of teenage boys managed to play beach volleyball at Eddie Park the other day. Barefooted and shirtless, they didn't need sand or seawater. They had the net, the ball, the sun, the savvy, and absolutely no responsibilities on a Friday afternoon other than pwning each other with killer spikes and, in all probability, insulting each other's moms.

I saw part of the game as I drove by. On the drive back, I caught these three walking away with the joyful swagger of victory. Summer. It's such a grand battlefield for the young.

Eddie Park after dark...

I originally posted about the lovely and magical Eddie Park here. I couldn't resist stopping and grabbing my tripod the other night when I drove past it and saw the old house lit up and glittering. (I know the logical explanation is that it was the setting for a meeting of some sort. But I like to think the ghosts were having a party.)

Eddie Park

Eddie Park is tucked away in a sleepy residential corner of South Pas. I found it a few months ago when I was driving around trying to get my cranky daughter to fall asleep in her car seat. Instead, we skipped naptime and played in this unusual playground.

The historic Eddie House and grounds were donated to the City of South Pasadena by the Eddie family. And what a donation! Remember when you were a kid and you would walk past that really big house in your neighborhood? The one with the great spreading lawn you were just dying to kick a ball around? Maybe the house was a little run down, a romantic old beauty in need of a new coat of paint, the kind of spooky but marvelous place where ghosts like Marion and George Kerby might host flapper parties on nights with a full moon…

That’s this place.

Spending time at Eddie Park feels almost like trespassing. The .75 acre lawn is perfect for playing fetch with your pooch or reading a book under one of the huge shade trees. A group barbeque area is staged around a large open brick fireplace. A Japanese style wooden arched bridge connects part of a long forgotten garden to the edge of the now abandoned driveway. Of course, there are swings and a slide. The Transitional Craftsman house has suffered a few unfortunate alterations – some rather inelegant louvered windows upstairs and virtually all of the original trim painted over – but it retains much of its charm including some spectacular leaded glass. If you peek into the downstairs windows, you’ll see lovely original woodwork and a gorgeous fireplace. Apparently this level is used for Scout meetings and an Alcoholics Anonymous group. The locked sun porch, to my daughter’s consternation, is filled floor to ceiling with toys, art supplies and puzzles. It is used by Pasadena City College for early childhood development classes. Upstairs, we can only wonder. (Maybe that’s where the Kerbys hang out.)