Happy Event

I have vague memories of going
to the park to see The Happy Crowd. 

 

I felt funny taking a picture of the audience so here is a picture of the performers. My favorite part of the crowd was seeing the people even older than we are who were there because of their fond memories of being there with their kids. They had the tapes, cds, and videos and the songs were part of parenting.

Their song about mismatched socks is something that is so popular that in our town they are known as happy socks. Lots of people - kids, adults, the high school principal - showed up in happy socks.

So nice to see friends and other happy people.

So Many Yard Signs

This lot has been empty for as long as I have been here.
A local retirement community owns it and would like to build
housing for those who have experienced homelessness (their words).

There are dueling signs and dueling websites. Pro-housing site here and anti-housing site here.

"Protect Our Students and Seniors"
This seems odd because it is the seniors who
own the land and are trying to build the facility.

Stay tuned.

Sad Post

 

before (from google maps)

now

Maybe the one on the left fell? But I was sorry to see the loss, especially at the beginning of summer.

Garden Tour

I feel too voyeuristic when I go on house tours, which is why I have loved that Claremont Heritage has created video tours. I feel perfectly comfortable going on garden tours, which is kind of funny since I don't like to garden.

I invited two friends who do like to
garden and we all had fun poking around.

Here are some highlights.

This garden had a couple dozen artichokes.
I am proud to say that I did not pick any!

The pool had been converted to a koi pond and the prayer
flags prevent birds of prey from swooping down to catch the fish.

Maybe this was the only house with grass.

Not part of a garden, but this family
showed how they had converted
the garage to a playroom. Wow!

This is what I aspire to have something like this.

Just the right amount of voyeurism for me!

Work

School districts have been having a hard time hiring full-time positions and finding substitutes. In March the principal at the school down the street reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to help out at lunch time and recess. The job was outside and I felt like accepting the offer would connect me to my friend who had done the job (along with being the librarian) and would also be a help to the school.

My favorite part was watching the kids
run out to the field and playground. 

very official looking

I also liked being on campus for special events,
like when the seniors return to share words of wisdom.

Another highlight was having my picture in the yearbook,
being asked sign some kids' yearbooks, and receiving 
one and a parting gift. Thanks, Sycamore!

A Little Scare

My young friend and I were just leaving the turtle pond at the botanic garden when I saw a weird cloud. And another and another. And then I realized it was not a cloud but smoke and I could hear a crackling sound. I don't know why I didn't call 911 but I did call the local police department. Just as I was describing it ("Yes, I do see an enormous amount of smoke!") I saw a helicopter. Phew. My thought was to get out so I did not take a picture at that point.

When we were closer to the exit I did take a picture, but the smoke was so unpleasant I did not want to linger. As we left we could see people waiting to get in and employees gathered in the parking lot.

I received this email thirty minutes after I called. 

And the city posted this.

It didn't take long for the fire to be under control and for the air to clear. That was enough of that.

Bookstore Update

I finally visited the Huntley Bookstore inside the campus library. Because there was restricted entry I was given a sticker that gave me permission to go to the store but not hang out in other parts of the building.

I think there used to be seating in this area.

The store seemed to have a bit of many things.

My fellow blogger alerted me to the sad news outside the old building.

from google
The beautiful avocado tree that used to be in front of the building

is gone forever.

Sigh.

Different Neighborhood

Once a week and friend and I walk, hike, or bike. We usually take the same route each time because it is easy, but this time we tried something new.

We went up a steep street and then went
down along each and every side street.

There were lots of fancy homes and cool front doors, but I was glad I didn't live there and have to ride up that hill each day.

from Google Maps
As we turned around one cul-de-sac I wondered why
there was a big chunk of rocky concrete in a mini island.

I hadn't noticed anything when we first passed it.

Looking closer we could see a shield

and an explanatory plaque.

"Guanajuato Drive

Named in honor

of Claremont's sister city

Guanajuato, Mexico

Dedicated to the advancement 

Of international goodwill

December 10, 1963"

I thought it was interesting and unusual and was surprised I could not find anything online about it. It was a bit of serendipity on our morning outing.

One more bonus was finding a new-to-me concrete stamp.

Powerless

 Or maybe I should have titled the post Powerful. I complained that the water in the swimming pool was too hot (sorry, Dad) and then a windstorm came through town and knocked the power out all over, including to the heater for the swimming pool. Be careful what you ask for.

Even though we were without power I was able to
make a cup of coffee with a kettle on the gas stove.

We have some hand-cranked flashlights but I was

happy to be able to use our solar lantern.

Our generous neighbor rushed out and got a generator in the morning and brought over a cord for our refrigerator! I was lucky that I had not gone the store on Friday as originally planned so nothing was lost.

What was lost were a tremendous number of trees. At some point I had to stop checking out the neighborhood because it was overwhelming.

School Foundation Fund Raiser

We don't drink a lot and so we skip the Beers and Bros event and the Wine Walk, but the Chocolate Walk has been fun in the past, including when our international teacher won the raffle basket two years ago.

It was a cold and foggy morning (or warm and foggy,
depending on what you are comparing it to), but by
the time the event started the sun and burned through.

We parked at the new coffee shop, which was right across from the starting point.

I wish I had counted our steps our used our mapping app
since we walked all over in the least efficient route possible, I think.

It was fun going into familiar places

and new places, including this one with international candies including Smarties,

and this store that had vintage '80's cards!

The live music was good and we enjoyed running into friends.

We ate a lot of chocolate foods including mini cupcakes and chocolate ice cream,

from Nosy Neighbors Coffee site
but the best things were the freshly made donuts.