Inspiration

Look up.

I think the one thing we can agree on about this election season is that we are all exhausted by it.  So,  regardless of your political views, let's stand on common ground together, look up, and reach for our better angels.  

Want to leave a message? Head over to the Glimpses of South Pasadena Community Forum to start a conversation! 

City with a View

I love grand, sweeping panoramas. For a city of only a few square miles, South Pasadena has an amazing number of beautiful views. (I actually wrote about it for Patch a few years ago.) Sure, a postcard view is an easy shot for a photographer when all you have to do is point your camera at a beautiful setting.

But what a payoff!

Former South Pas residents who have moved away often write me asking to post photos of specific views. A reader living in China asked if I had any stormy views from Monterey Hills looking toward the San Gabriels. Will you settle for snow?  Here you go...

For some truly remarkable view shots, check out The Library of Congress Panoramic Photograph Collection, 1851-1991. The images feature cityscapes, landscapes, bridges, waterways, natural disaster overviews and some pretty amazing old group portraits and beauty contests. I often go down the internet rabbit hole of vintage images.  Check out this great old shot of South Pasadena's historic Raymond Hotel. And for those of you who once read my Castle Green post, here's a great vintage image of Pasadena's famous Hotel Green. These photographs give us a long view of world history and offer a fantastic window into our shared past.

A version of this post was originally published in 2012

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

--Robert Frost

Hangar On...

At first, I thought this was the Goodyear blimp, making one last flight over the San Gabriel Valley after the Rose Bowl. Then I saw the words "Hangar Vodka" on the side of it...

Hey! That's just another way to have a good year!

For more on blimps in South Pasadena's history, check out my post here.

And May All Your Christmases be White...

Peace, love and joy to each and every one of you.

Connected

"We never grow tired of each other, the mountain and I."

--Li Bai (701-762)

Technical Difficulties

My laptop battery is out of juice. When I plugged in the charger, the cord buzzed, sparked and shorted out.

Yikes!

Unfortunately, a trip to Best Buy at midnight is out of the question. So, here's a picture of snow on the mountains. It was the only shot on my camera, taken yesterday from Monterey Hills. Now I feel perfectly justified having a netbook as well as a laptop. At almost 1000 daily posts, I can't break my stride because of equipment malfunction!

Winter Vista

Look what we found yesterday morning! Altadena Hiker has some great shots here, too. I have a feeling today is going to be a kind of snow theme day for San Gabriel Valley bloggers. I'll update with links to more pictures as I find them.

Update: Check out Mister Earl's snow pictures here!

Ben over at the sky is big in Pasadena posted a shot taken by a guest photographer right here.

A View from the Altos

Speaking of Monterey Hills, I have a new piece going up at Patch sometime this morning. In the mean time, check out winter in Southern California. I know I've included many versions of this vantage point before, but I never get tired of the view.

Bear with me...

....but you've seen something very close to this photo before. Although I haven't counted, I've probably taken at least two dozen other pictures from this very spot.

But it's the season's first snow on the mountains! And even though I've lived in Los Angeles for almost 23 years, it never ceases to make me want to jump up and down while pointing and squealing, "Snow! Snow!" Don't worry, I won't launch into the classic SoCal speech about how we can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon. On second thought, guess what? We can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon!

Tis the season to be jolly, indeed.

Remnants of Winter

Almost June, and the mountains still have a little snow...

Are we sure summer is just around the corner?

Wish You Were Here

After each winter storm roars through, South Pasadena wakes up to a snow-capped morning. And suddenly, every picture becomes a postcard.

Wind at Your Back

This is the view you'd glimpse if you rode your bike along the Arroyo toward the Rose Bowl. It's something my husband loves to do. And since today is his birthday, I thought he could get a head start on his weekend ride...

Happy, happy, happy birthday, Jon!

The Icing on the Cake...

This view from Raymond Hill is the gorgeous result of last week's storms. We don't normally see snow this close to us.

(Want to get even closer? Go over to Altadenahiker and check out her vantage point. And Ben over at the sky is big in pasadena has yet another view. And wouldn't you know it? So does Tash at Palos Verdes Daily Photo. And so does East of Allen! And Altadena Daily Photo! This has turned into a local Theme Day!)

Aerobic

I felt a little guilty hanging out at the top of this hill while the runner on the right huffed and puffed up from the bottom. People all over town are lacing up new sneakers and keeping those new year's resolutions. Me? I just take more pictures...

Winter Morning

Derivative? Sure. But isn't it beautiful?

Winter Wonderland

I know. This image is way too similar to another one I posted last week. I just can't help it. Whenever I see those snow-kissed mountains I just want to jump up and down, squeal, break out the egg nog and start belting It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Southern California offers such a splendid holiday cornucopia: snowy mountains rising above warm beaches, autumn leaves falling on palm fronds and bougainvillea, shirtsleeve days drifting into fireplace nights. This place is never sure exactly what it wants to be... so it's everything, all at once. Sunbathe with snow in the distance? Sure! Share geography with neighbors who celebrate Eid, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Wiccan Yule and Yalda? Absolutely! Somehow be both naughty and nice? Well... isn't everybody?

Let in Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Monday's drenching storm gave way to this spectacular Tuesday morning view: the first mountain snow. How's that for getting Southern California into a festive holiday mood?

Big

It's the first of the month, and that means Theme Day for participating City Daily Photo bloggers. I missed the last one, but when I checked yesterday found out this month's theme, I knew I had to participate. This month's theme is Big. Well, I certainly have a picture for that. (In fact, I have a whole slew of them...)

As of just past midnight, the Station Fire now exceeds 105,000 acres and may end up on the books as the biggest fire in LA County history.

From our South Pas perspective, it means worrying about friends and loved ones in Altadena, Sunland, Tujunga, Glendale, Acton, La Canada and La Cresenta who are at immediate risk from the unstable blaze. It means worrying about friends and loved ones in Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Newhall and any number of other communities who might end in the path of the seemingly unstoppable firestorm. It means marveling at the miracle work of firefighters who have tirelessly battled for five days and saved countless structures. It means grieving for the two firefighters who gave their lives in the process.

It means mourning the loss of so much forest -- of beloved hiking trails and nature walks, bike tracks and rock climbing spots. And it means mourning the loss of those secret spots off the trail -- the ones where special picnics happened. Where you might have fallen in love or figured out your life.

It means wondering if Mount Wilson is next -- home to the observatory that helped write the birth certificate of our universe, and to the telecommunications towers that hook up our cell phones. (The ones that we keep using every hour to check news updates and blog posts.) It means now knowing terms like pyrocumulus.

From a South Pas perspective, it means being nestled right up against catastrophe but still going about life's business, with smoke-filled days and uneasy nights that now have a fiery mountainside as a nightlight.

For the latest fire updates:

Altadena Hiker
Altadenablog
LA Observed
Firefighter Blog
Inciweb
The Mount Wilson webcam
LA Times dynamic map of current fire zone

For other creative interpretations of today's City Daily Photo theme:
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

UPDATE: 2:15PM Just reported by our friends at the informative Altadenablog:

The Battle for Mt. Wilson: it's on. Flames are in the complex, but there's a lot of "fog of war" as to what's really going on up there. Air support seems to be the only way to fight it now, altho' LA County Fire twittered around 1:45:

*Station IC* LACoFD is sending units to stage at Red Box Ranger Station for structure protection @ Mount Wilson.
Lots of aircraft flying over us in East Altadena, apparently headed for Mt. Wilson.

UPDATE: 5:00PM Lots of comments on blogs about aerial water drops over Mt. Wilson. Here's the latest from LA Times. It's eerie outside here in South Pas. Ash rains down on everything. Saw one woman wearing a respiratory mask as she walked down Fair Oaks. Sun blotted by smoke.

UPDATE: 8:30PM Mt. Wilson webcam is now out of commission. Click here for the last shot. This briefing about the fight to save Mt. Wilson (linked at the bottom of the webcam picture) offers encouraging news straight from the source.

Sweet Nothings

Romance was literally in the air when I recently captured this sunset image. Can't you see it there, dusting the sky and mountains with a sentimental shade of pink?

It begs for a proper love poem:

i love you much(most beautiful darling)

more than anyone on the earth and i
like you better than everything in the sky

-sunlight and singing welcome your coming

although winter may be everywhere
with such a silence and such a darkness
noone can quite begin to guess

(except my life)the true time of year-

and if what calls itself a world should have
the luck to hear such singing(or glimpse such
sunlight as will leap higher than high
through gayer than gayest someone's heart at your each

nearness)everyone certainly would(my
most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love

--ee cummings