Saturday, January 22, 2011

Hello Seattle, I See the Mountains Near. . .


Hello Seattle, I See the Mountains Near. . .
Photo & Text © 2011 Kim- Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved; no use, alteration, reproduction or republishing in any media.
. . .Pasadena. During my youth in Southern California I used to camp, hike, and go to the snow in the Angeles National Forrest in the mountains high above Pasadena California. I have many happy memories of those excursions with friends. Coming down and heading back home after camping, tobogganing, or a day hike to the falls into Devils Canyon we would all pile into the Salt Shaker in Pasadena, an Armet & Davis designed "Googie" style coffee shop that screamed mid century modern. Now, my mom always said Pasadena was more town & country "old money," a more established and well off area than the mixture of tract homes and orange groves that made up most of Orange County where we lived, just southwest of LA. Pasadena was East of LA, inland, near the base of the mountains we often couldn't see for the smog. Thank goodness that's a thing of the past.

When I came across this Pasadena Place NE street sign in the U District here in Seattle, I thought about that long ago place and time, of past Rose Parades down Colorado Boulevard, long necked palm trees craning over buildings to view the nearby mountain peaks, field trips to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. But what mostly came to mind was the present amazing group of Pasadena area bloggers whose sites I love to visit and the camaraderie they have built in cyberspace and beyond. This is a special shout out to Petrea of Pasadena Daily PhotoLaurie of Glimpses of South Pasadena, and Ben of The Sky is Big in Pasadena, and all their regular commenters and fellow area bloggers that make reading and visiting those sites so enjoyable. Beautiful photography, stellar writing, cute dogs and kids, and always good humor, great heart and social conscience, eyes for important detail, and a knack for highlighting insanely interesting stories about the community, current events, many, many talented residents, the architectural heritage, the schools, colleges, places of worship and businesses, the history and the present tense, and that gorgeous city hall that I never tire of seeing portrayed in a zillion ways. And you'll never find a run on sentence like the one you just read. They are articulate, passionate writers. I hope you will treat yourself to a visit to each of these blogs (listed in my sidebar), and those of their area friends. Something very special awaits.

11 comments:

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Very nice post, Kim... wonderful remembrance of growing up in SoCal and a lovely tribute to the bloggers there! I know Petrea but will be visiting Laurie and Ben.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Genie

Petrea Burchard said...

Kim, thank you. That couldn't be nicer! Funny how a sign touched off such lovely memories.

I think I posted a run-on sentence today.

ben wideman said...

Aw Kim, thanks so much for the shout out!!! You are a model blogger for your warmth and kindness.

Laurie Allee said...

Kim! You are an inspiration to all of us, my lovely blogger friend. THanks for the shout out. You know we'd all love to show you around your old stomping ground if you ever make it down south!

XOXOXOXO

Wendy Lu said...

Stellar photo! I love taking pictures of road signs. I know of one neighborhood whose street signs all have to do with music. :) I took a picture of two intersecting street signs that were "Bach" and "tempo." I thought that was really cool :D

~TRA

http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com

Katie said...

Very cool that seeing this sign could send you back to your youth and time spent in Pasadena. Sounds like you had some fun times there. I agree that the Pasadena-area bloggers are something special!

Petrea Burchard said...

Kim, another Pasadena photo blog you might like to know about is Pasadena, 91105 and Beyond. Kat does amazing things with her iPhone:
http://klikkonthis.wordpress.com/

Petrea Burchard said...

Katie, that was awfully nice of you.

Steve Scauzillo said...

I am very appreciative of your blog and I happen to be visiting Portland as I write this. I also love the Pasadena area bloggers you mentioned.
SAS, of www.templecitydailyphoto.blogspot.com

Petrea Burchard said...

You'd like Steve, Kim--Temple City is right by Pasadena.

You know, you opened up a can of -- well, not worms. But there are so many good blogs and bloggers around here, am I right, Steve?

Kim said...

Thanks for introducing me to 91105 & Beyond, Petrea, and Hi Steve! I have followed Alta Dena Hiker for some time, and am so familiar with "regular" folks in the comments boxes. Seems like there is always a party going on down there. And there are so many other SoCal blogs I love, not the least of which is Tash's in PV. I'm most familiar with CDPBloggers, though, and, well of course Katie and Katiefornia.
-Kim