Today's walk report: 122518-Merry-Christmas

Merry Christmas, 2018!

This is two walk reports in one. Aren't you excited?

Last night, Christmas Eve, we went for a walk in the neighborhood just south of us wherein lies the famous Candy Cane Lane. In our youth this was a much bigger deal than it is of late but it was still very nice. The streets get packed with cars and certainly some of the people living along the 3 blocks long and 4 blocks wide area don't especially appreciate all the commotion. Approximately 60% of the homes didn't decorate and it's my recollection that at least 85% participated in some fashion back in the 60s-70s. We walked about 1/2 of the territory, a little over 2 miles. I brought along a crappy old point and shoot camera, so just a few pics to prove we were there.

Today, Christmas Day, it was back to the local botanical garden and elsewhere on the college campus where it resides.

As soon as we entered he garden we were met with a flurry of American bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) catching insects on a cape honeysuckle bush.

 In a couple of previous reports I have stated that this hummingbird was an immature, male Anna's (Calypte anna). My bad, today it was being swooned by an adult male and it is indeed a female.

Male Allen's hummingbird, Rusty G. Alpha was also hanging out.

Next we moved up topside of the campus, overlooking the San Fernando Valley and Docken spotted this red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

Once he departed, we did too.

Today's walk report: 122313, Christmas, 2013

A Christmas day walk report, special edition.

Okay, probably not special other than going out at a special time, doing a longer than average walk and having some Christmas related images. Plus if I call it special it makes up for the no walk report yesterday, not even a report of no report until right now. Yesterday was cooking and last minute cleaning for a small get together, day before Christmas, smörgåsbord feast. There was so much food I didn't even have time to prepare some of what I had planned to make. I forgot to take a picture of the table too. It looked something like this, only different.

Anyway, once my guests had left and I got the kitchen partially back in order, which is about the same state it remains in now, almost 24 hours later, I was more than ready to vegetate on the couch for the remainder of the evening. I watch concert videos, about 2/3rds of a movie and crawled into bed about midnight. The fire in my fireplace had burned itself out hours earlier, there were ginger snap and pfeffernüsse cookies on the coffee table but alas no one came down the chimney leaving  me gifts.

A lazy morning with my constant companion, Lucy T. Cat and out the door before lunch, or breakfast for that matter, off for a walk by 12:30. 75º and winds up to 25 mph it wasn't what most people (including me) would call Christmas weather but it was nice, I didn't mind.

I started with about 1/4 of my Mon-Thus, southbound neighborhood walk, part of the infamous, "Candy Cane Lane" and then did my "full" campus walk... roughly 11 km in all.

Creepy. I question the people who like to do creepy. Sorry to judge but geez, it's for young children.

Close up of Chucky the Elf.

I'm not sure I get the Santa Claus pirate ship connection either.

Model T Santa, this I understand completely. I mean, chitty-chitty bang, bang was a flying car, then there was Flubber...

The mail carrier had to smile at least once over the past several days.

These people obviously like Mickey Mouse and company.

The way over the top we love Santa Claus house.

Sort of a Santa meets Tarzan kind of thing.

One of my favorite decorations, sparing no expense to make something of quality that really stands out.

Onto the campus.

I met this charming British couple who we out birding and we stopped to chat. She told me about a San Fernando Valley Audubon group that does monthly outings and I'm going to look into that. I have a fondness for birds of prey for some reason and I'm not sure I'm interested in much else, other than the photography side which I find to be rather solitary but I would be interested in the locations they visit and it would probably be good for me to meet some people.

Nobody's ever very excited about getting their picture taken (I got that <sigh>) but I think they look quite lovely.

Lots of Canada geese in the pastures and flying about.

CORRECTED, almost positive now this is a Prairie falcon. Part of my problem in ID'ing birds is I think I get quite a number of wrong IDs online.

Horse, fly.

Red-tailed hawk and contrail.

American Kestrel in flight... avoiding me... as always.

Today's walk report: 121113

The Christmas "lanes."

The somewhat famous local overboard on the decorations for the season to be jolly, often referred to in a lump sum as Candy Cane Lane, is really 4 avenues. Three of which are 3 blocks long and the 4th is two.

I'm sure I knew this sometime in my childhood but once again I took a refresher course and this is how it works. Coming from the west side the street which has already been referred to here as the 4th avenue, the short two blocker, begins Candy Cane Lane. For anyone who is/was local or for some other reason finds this and cares to know this would be Penfield Avenue, in the 91367 zip code, coming in from Hatteras Street. Penfield is shorter than the other 3 blocks because there is a hill at the end. That's where the street dead ends, depicted yesterday here. If you are inclined to visit this neighborhood for any of this and you come in from Winnetka Avenue onto Hatteras don't turn left into the short dead ending block. If you don't see a bunch of traffic and you really feel like it, well OK, but I'll tell you turning around when this scene is hopping with cars just for the 10-12 houses on the dead end street isn't worth the hassle. It is at this sign, I recommend you make a right turn. Are you following this? I'm not gonna make a map, you can do that yourself.

You've got about 18 houses on Penfield without that dead end I told you to skip. You're continuing west now to the next block by turning left onto Martha Street. If you started on Martha Street that probably means you got into this mess from the 101 Freeway exit on Winnetka. That would also be a big mistake. If you come to see this and you have to take the 101 freeway get off well in advance of Winnetka. That means about a mile from all this. To the west that would be De Soto Ave., to the east it would be Tampa Ave. But if it's anytime close to Christmas, especially on a weekend, 8 PM and you've got a car full of kids running high on a sugar rush you don't want to expend 1/2 hour just getting off the freeway and making a right turn onto Winnetka even though you'd be a mere 25 yards away from the right turn onto Martha. So pay attention to experience here and Google map this from Tampa Avenue or DeSoto Avenue and find a back door onto Hatteras on either the Corbin or Winnetka side. In fact make it Winnetka no matter what. I live right off of Corbin Ave. I don't want any collateral traffic near me from people who are screwing this up.

Anyway, back to Penfield > Martha > Lubao Avenue. You go left, that's the only way you can go. The 101 is just to your right. On Lubao guess where you are?

That's right. you're still on Candy Cane Lane. Why the two streets of 5 blocks shared that holiday name has always been a mystery.

The next set of 3 blocks is Oakdale Avenue, aka, Candlelight Lane.

That sign is probably 50 years old, maybe older. There's a lot of stuff on the route which are decorations dating back to my childhood. The same very stuff. Amazing and it looks 50+ years old too. You might be thinking this sign probably looks nicer at night all lit up but it doesn't.

On the other end of Oakdale, they're still working on the sign.

Coming off Oakdale to the next set of 3 blocks west you'll be on Jumilla. Jumilla is Bell Lane or Caroler's Lane or something along those lines... I don't think I was ever really sure. They don't have a sign on Jumilla, at least not yet.

On a personal note. We did this when we were kids. We picked a night, got in our jammies and went out in the car to look at decorations. The most fun part for me was getting to stay up and do this... in our jammies. The traffic can be horrific. Also, people drive without headlights AND they aren't really looking at where they're going. The upside to that is you're only moving about 2 MPH, unless you're stopped completely.

Today's walk report: 120513

Fact...

Frogs eat flys [sic]. It looks as though there may have been an effort to spell "flies" but it was erased.
Don't worry kid, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ― Albert Einstein

Some more previews from the famed Candy Cane Lane, etc...

Santa faced lamp.

 

Santa faced palms.

Santa's icy pink flamingo.

Bow tie kitty and plastic deer.

About a 6 km (short) walk. My left foot isn't playing nice and I was a little late getting out. It might be time to move to a new pair of Nikes. I hate it when shoes wear out. It reminds me of how expensive they are. However, I already have two new pairs waiting in a closet.

Today's walk report: 112513

Decorations waiting in the wings...

Actually, one house was just about done setting their's up. They have people who come in and do this for them. Seems like it takes the charm out of it but I know from experience here at home, the parents start pushing 60 and holiday decorations on the house aren't such a priority anymore. I'll be putting some lights out... mostly because I like colored lights though. I'd probably do it despite the holidays if it wasn't a little wacky.

Lots of Santas big and small...

I said... BIG!

Here's a preview from last year.

Today's walk report: 111913

Red cubes.

I was curious about all of the red paper cubes sporadically distributed along most of my walk but I didn't want to take anyone's cube until I finally found one which had blown into the street. I seized the opportunity and grabbed it.

I could tell there was something inside but since I was walking a pretty good clip and it was getting dark I chose to flatten it and put it in my back pocket.

On my return down this street I also picked up a green flier which accompanied all of the cubes I saw. I had only glanced at it briefly before folding it and putting it in my other back pant's pocket.

The distribution of the red cubes and fliers was on 4 streets, 3 of these streets run 3 blocks and the 4th runs for two blocks and dead ends. I picked up my box on this 4th street which marks the famous 1/2-way mark of this particular walk. A rough estimate says that's 222 houses that got a box and a flier. That's a lot of folding to do and I know what that's like. I happen to have had some interest in my lifetime, on and off, in paper folding or doing Origami if you prefer. I have two books on the subject, both were gifts. One is called, The Encyclopedia of Origami and Papercraft Techniques by Paul Jackson and the other is The Buck Book: All Sorts of Things to do with a Dollar Bill-Besides Spend It by Anne Akers Johnson.

From the first book and in the same theme as the 2nd book, I made this which sits on my desk. I think I made it around 2008 but I made many of these cubeoctahedrons for several years before that. A cubeoctahedron has six square faces and eight triangular faces, four of which are triangular spaces and four of which are inverted pyramids.

From the 2nd book, the one on folding a dollar bill (or any denomination for that matter) there should be one of these around...

...unless somebody took it--again. People seem to like the elephant and it was my favorite one to fold from The Buck Book. I haven't made one for several years now. I used to make them at restaurants while waiting on the slower eaters in my company to be used as tip money. Most waiters and waitresses I saw picking up their tip would smile for the elephant.

So what was the deal with the red cubes? First here's the flier.

Taft is the High School I attended in the 70s. Candy Cane Lane is a area of streets that have traditionally gone sort of overboard on the holiday decoration front. I wrote about Candy Cane Lane, etc., here and it will be coming up again here soon. This year I'm going to try and get out with a tripod one night and do a night photo session. It's sort of frightening in a way because there are often a ludicrous number of cars going up and down these streets all driving with their lights off as not to distract from the glorious holiday lighting and their eyes are on the houses, not looking in front of them.

Finally, here's what was inside the red paper cube or did you already figure it out?

I forgot one of my prized paper folding books and this one has a special place on the living room coffee table.

Today's walk report: 072413

Peace.

I suppose if you do this for your Christmas lights one year and take them down, after the 2nd installation you would probably have to think... "why don't we just leave that up there all year?" The lights are regular Christmas lights braided to make the peace sign.

This is sort of the bastard street on the traditional "holiday season" decoration hood just south of me. The infamous name for two of the streets is Candy Cane Lane which cover 6 blocks. Online, if you Google it, the reviews somehow come up with 8 blocks but trust me I walk these streets up and down most Mondays-Thursdays and it's 6 blocks. However, there is the street before the main drag which was dubbed Avenue of the Bells for the holidays way back when but adds 3 blocks to program and then there's this one at the other side of the main drag. This particular street runs two blocks and dead ends. It doesn't get the traffic (lucky them) that the other streets get for the holidays.

I took a bunch of photos of the house decorations last year during the day. Some of the best ones are the really tacky displays. I'll try to do this again in 2013. I might even venture out on foot at night with a triposd and get some timed exposures. It's a little scary to walk (I got into it on a bicycle at night last year!) because people drive with their headlights off and they pay little attention to the road.

Happy holidays!