Close enough to visit

My wife and I went down to San Diego California for a convention. We stayed at the Bayview Sheraton Hotel and this was our view each day. San Diego is just over 100 miles south of Downey, but it is much cooler due to the ocean effect.

Looking out over our balcony, this was our nighttime view. I thought, "San Diego has the most colorful night skyline I've ever seen."

San Diego, where else can you look out your balcony and see a wedding party being photographed next to the bay?

Goodbye Christmas!

It's the day after Christmas. How long does one wait to take down all the beautiful decorations we spent hours putting up a few weeks ago? I don't know about your house but months into the future we will find a few decorations still loitering about that haven't found their way up to the attic yet. This night light in the bathroom somehow often gets forgotten. I think it's our subconscious way of keeping Christmas spirit around.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year." Charles Dickens (Scrooge in A Christmas Carol)

Bustling downtown

When I went to the Stay Gallery grand opening on Friday night, one of the most striking things (outside of the gallery) was the vibrant, welcoming feel of downtown Downey at 9 at night. People gathered on the sidewalks, and there was actually traffic!

This is in contrast to January of this year when Allison wrote about Lonely downtown, when the nighttime streets were empty. The mix of new businesses and eateries are turning this into an area that people want to hang out in.

Not so lonely anymore.

In with the blue

It's a blue moon tonight! (Technically at 9:58 tomorrow morning, but it counts.) If you're like me a few years ago, you'd be looking for the moon to have a blue color to it.

"In fact, 'blue moon' refers not to color, but to rarity. Blue moons are defined as either the fourth full moon in a season, or, more recently, as the second full moon in a month. It's the second definition that covers August's blue moon; the month's first full moon was on Aug. 1.

"Blue moons happen because our calendar months don't precisely sync with the moon's orbit. It takes the moon 29.5 days to wax and wane from full to new to full again. With the exception of February, months are longer than that, meaning that once in a while the timing works out so there are two full moons in one month." msnbc.msn.com

If you miss this one, the next chance you get will be in 2015

Stairway to window

Downtown Long Beach, less than half an hour away from us in Downey, is full of night life. After a nice dinner on E Beverly, I was walking down the street tonight when I saw this stairway. I want to go up and see what is up there.

Excuses, excuses

It started earlier this evening when I had to work later than usual. No, actually, it started last night when I used up the last of my stockpile of DDP pictures. So, I got home late, ate dinner, and dragged myself out to find a picture for today's post.

Then my gas warning light went on. I stopped to fill up my tank at the local 76 station.

At that point, I realized that if I just squinted a little bit, even the gas station could start to look interesting.

Oh thank heavens... and barking dogs

I'm not going to lie. I completely forgot about today's Downey Daily photo until right now, 2:05 am. Luckily, the insanely annoying dog from next door was not letting me go to sleep because she had something to tell the dog 17 houses down and hasn't learned to text yet. After tossing and turning for a few hours and then googling "how to shut your neighbor's dog up" I realized I hadn't posted for tonight. Thankfully I had taken pictures, I just forgot to upload them.

So here is my picture. The beautiful sunset from my porch. The storm just missed our city yesterday and hit all of western Los Angeles and the beaches. We just got the fun cloudy sky producing rays of sun shining through it.

By the way, "Yahoo answers" suggested I use ultrasonic to shut the dog up. Um, can anyone say animal cruelty? And where am I going to get anything ultrasonic at 2 in the morning?

After the lights go out

After the lights go out at the Pets and Grooming pet store, do the animals come out to play like the toys in Toy Story?

This parrot, with his feathers all ruffled out for warmth, was wary, waiting for me to leave him to his nap.

In the back, the fish seemed oblivious to the perpetual light on their tanks.

Closing time

What does the local strip mall look like at closing time?

At Baskin Robbins, the tables have been brought in from the front sidewalk, the floor is scrubbed, and the door is just about to close.

Next, the pet store after closing...

Should I be worried?

Gas prices are pretty crazy right now in Downey. How do they compare to the rest of the world? What are the gas prices where you call your home? They seem to skyrocket up and then come creeping slowly down a cent at at time.

Library lights

Okay, so you can't check out a book at midnight at the library. But the lights are really pretty down town at night.

Dazzling Beauty by night

I love the lights at night. It's what draws me to a business whether it is open or not. This is another of the downtown Downey businesses by night. It looks nostalgic and fun at the same time. This business is not new. It has been in Downey for over 30 years... making people look and feel good, one person at a time.

From the top

From the four stairwells at the top of the Embassy Suites building, I can see the whole of my little town getting ready for the night.

A line is formed at Porto's Bakery. People are coming in and out of the Wells Fargo Bank and the sirens of a few fire engines flare through the intersection of Brookshire and Firestone.

By the way, this is the second year of doing this daily blog. Happy 2 year anniversary to us!

Christmas shopping

The Second Tyme Around Shop is ready for Christmas. The display looks a lot different from a year ago, but I think I recognize some of the faces.

Downtown lights

I like to see the city lit up at night. So, tonight I thought I might wander around downtown Downey for a bit. I was trying to get a different perspective on Downey after dark, so I went to the top of the Porto's parking lot. This let me look "down" on some of the downtown area.

About that time, of course, it began to rain...which added a nice glow to the streets.

Night life

It's 10:30 at night. I didn't go out to take pictures today, so I'm looking through my last few weeks of shots. Nothing! I get my camera and keys, and drive out to find some night life in Downey.

The streets are surprisingly busy, lots of cars. But the stores are all closed, many of them still well-lit and looking deserted. A few restaurants are open, but are quiet.

Blockbuster is empty—the movies are all rented by now. There are just a few small clusters of kids hanging out outside the Krikorian Theater, a few more stragglers outside of the closed Porto's Bakery.

The Downey High football stadium is lit, but there's no one there. Empty Porta-Potties line Brookshire Avenue in preparation for tomorrow's Street Fair.

The Downey Theater is shuttered—apparently no performances are scheduled tonight. I see a couple of Stonewood Mall employees walking across the empty parking lot.

The only place that is bustling is the local In-N-Out fast food restaurant.

I wonder what that says about Downey?

Past, present, future

I guess every town has a palm reader. I have never been, but I have driven past this building over the years. I have to admit, I kinda wonder if she's a little like Shawn in "Psych." 

A single light

A single light in an empty parking lot. What could feel lonelier?

One of my favorite walls (see this post) has an eery feeling late at night.

Spring fever?

It's spring time and I love the fact that the days seem so much longer because it doesn't get dark until 7:30.

Wandering around Downey Landing tonight, I noticed quite a few people out enjoying the longer days too; eating late dinners and snacks outside by the food court area.  

Lonely downtown

As I walk the streets of downtown Downey, on a cool night in January, I notice something.

I'm alone.

As in, no one is around, anywhere.

This is downtown. The place where everyone is supposed to hang out, drink coffee, browse the shops, check out what's playing at the dollar theater, or other night life activities. Except, there isn't really anything to do.

There is a billiards a couple streets away and a few coffee shops across town and the Krikorian is farther away than one would like to walk.

I feel Downey is like a compilation of good intentions thrown together without any kind of organization or true planning. Like we boomed in the middle of last century and now are kind of stuck there, adding a few new pieces here and there.

We need some new ideas for all the vacant shops surrounding downtown.