A Landmark Tour

Since 2007, Floyd B. Bariscale has been finding, photographing, and writing about the official historical landmarks of Los Angeles. I like his pictures ( he has a talent for being out and about on clear, blue-sky days). His commentary is both informative and entertaining. Lately I've been searching for some of the Valley's landmarks, and Floyd's entries have been helpful on more than one occasion when I just couldn't figure out where the darn thing was. The blog is called Big Orange Landmarks.

The Botanic Garden at Pierce College

This two-acre garden on the Pierce College campus displays "Mediterranean" plants suitable for the Southern California climate. In addition to native California plants, there is a nice variety of specimens from Australia and South Africa. The plants are labeled, so it's easy to borrow these ideas for your home garden. The area is bisected by "Evolution Walk", a pathway depicting major periods in the history of life on earth. There are additional pathways, benches and shaded seating areas. A small pond is home to turtles and frequently hosts ducks and egrets. Many other species of birds are attracted to the garden, which includes a fair number of hummingbird feeders.

Gone Fishin'

It hardly looks like December, even in South California. Temperatures in the 80’s are perfect for a visit to Lake Balboa.

Holiday Spirit

It was about 80 degrees outside when we stopped at a fast-food place for a cold drink. This woman was wearing Christmas-themed toe socks (patched on the heels with bright blue) with camouflage-striped flip-flops, blue crop pants, a ragged gray-green tank top and a sleeveless, beige cardigan. She caught our attention with her nasty cursing when the counter girl made an error and sold her three drinks instead of one. Neither of them was a native speaker of English, but they were forced to use English because it was the only language they had in common.