A knight's tale

There are many narrow residential streets in Downey and, where these combine with lots of apartments and the resulting street parking, passing an oncoming car can be a challenge. Such was the case when I faced down this truck at the other end of a long block. I felt a little like a jousting knight—can my feeble Honda lance knock this black knight out of the way?

No. I meekly pulled aside into a driveway, and waited for him to pass.

They're baaack!

I had an encounter with these circles a few years ago and did a post on them then (a little tongue in cheek). When I saw them this time, I thought it might be time to share the crop circle image again. I also recently saw a series of them both at intersections on Smallwood and on Rives.

Obviously, the comparison to crop circles is still valid. I would love to think that some cereologist could offer an interesting explanation. (Did you know that a cereologist is a person who studies crop circles?)

That golden hour

The photographer's golden hour is that hour after sunrise or before sunset, when the light turns everything, well, golden. We can take that light for granted when the scene is just an ordinary Downey street. But combine that light with the dark storm clouds in the background, and even an ordinary street scene can make you stop and take notice.

Empty streets

Firestone Boulevard is one of the busiest thoroughfares through Downey. But it was surprisingly empty one early evening this past week as we took a walk through downtown Downey.

Dead end

This short dead-end street ends just before the railroad tracks that divide Downey. On the other side is the Coca-Cola bottling plant. I think it's a coincidence—really! This isn't an allegorical statement about Coca-Cola being a dead end...

"A dead end can never be a one way street; you can always turn around and take another road."
~ Bo Bennett

Peaceful places

This is the intersection of Congressman Steve Horn Way and Caring Way. It is a peaceful set of roads set back from the constant bustle of Imperial Hwy just south. I ride my bike here on my way to and from work. It is much safer than the direct route and easier on my nerves.

Today I noticed something though, a set of three ground boxes for the streets. The first was labeled "streetlights." The second was labeled "traffic signal." And I thought to myself, "What traffic signal? There is barely enough traffic to warrant the stop signs." Then I thought, "They're here for future traffic signals, when the traffic will warrant it." I hope not. I hope it never loses its peacefulness.

The third box read "fiber optic." Downey doesn't have the FIOS fiber optic network, so why do we need conduits for fiber optics?

"I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety." 
~ Psalm 4:8

Tree-lined streets

This weekend I had to go to Pasadena, and I was reminded of the year that I commuted to Pasadena for work.

The commute is about 16 miles. The first ten miles go quickly—all freeway until the 710 ends in Alhambra. The next six miles take longer—one- to two-lane surface streets through a variety of neighborhoods. For years, there were plans to extend the 710 freeway north all the way through to Pasadena and beyond. What stopped this plan was South Pasadena (above).

South Pasadena is the reason that I never minded that 6-mile drive. The wide streets are lined with trees that often meet in the middle to cover the entire street. The houses are one-of-a-kind. I never got tired of my daily commute. The South Pasadena residents fought long and hard to keep a freeway from ruining their neighborhoods.

Downey has similar neighborhoods (below). Maybe not as many or as tree-covered. But take a drive around, and enjoy the tree-lined streets and one-of-a-kind houses in our Downey neighborhoods.

Digging ditches

Downey has been doing a lot of street repair work lately. They repaved Brookshire from Firestone Blvd to Imperial Hwy. They also redid the cement curbs along the same area. Now they are redoing any damaged curbs on the side streets that connect to Brookshire. This is one of them.

It's one of the things I don't mind them spending my tax money on. It makes for a much smoother ride and the water flows better during a rain.

Where is 3rd Street?

In its beginning, Downey High School was on the corner of Firestone Blvd and Brookshire Avenue, but only went up to 3rd Street. Later, the school expanded to occupy several acres north of 3rd Street. But what did they do with the actual 3rd Street, you may ask?

Well, the parts of it that didn't have buildings constructed on them were left intact, so that today you can still see the asphalt street complete with curbs in the middle of the Downey High School campus. Above is the east entrance as seen from the west entrance of Stonewood Center. Below is the west entrance as seen from the Downey library.

I was talking to one of the security personnel who told me that they still say they are working on "3rd Street." Also, several years ago an elderly man drove in to the east entrance of the campus as seen above and thought he could continue straight across and get to Brookshire Avenue. He was informed that he couldn't any longer and had to turn around.

It's interesting how some things change and yet retain some of their original parts.

Goodbye sun

One of the streets in Downey, Brookshire Avenue, is getting a complete face lift. The city is redoing the handicap corner curbs, fixing all the deformed sidewalks, repaving the street, and a myriad of other things.

This face-lift is scheduled to take three months to complete. To facilitate this process, one of the first steps was for taggers to come out and paint symbols all over the street, curbs, and sidewalks. This one says that something is 5 inches deep.

But I think the most amazing part of the process is where they have taken one of the suns on Brookshire and turned it into a black hole.

Ah, winter...

January and February really are our winter months in Downey. It starts to really cool down to a chilling 47-55 degrees (Fahrenheit) and you can see the mountains from the streets on a clear day. Even the leaves on the trees decide to dress their part for this season. Some even fall off completely!

Paramount Auto Center

There is a place on Paramount right by the railroad tracks that always catches my eye. It doesn't seem like it would belong in Downey, a mix of cookie cutter houses, McMansions, and businesses from the 50s. But sometimes, this kind of building pops up out of the norm and surprises me. Another example would be the "new" bus station and the Carl's Jr. on Firestone near where the All American Home Center used to be. They are fun little exceptions to our town.

The calm after the storm

Downey looked nice and bright and sunny this morning after yesterday's rain. And it made my garden extra bloom-ful today.

3rd street coffee

One of the local coffee places is 3rd Street Coffee. I love it. Great food, fast service and very in the midst of what down town we have.

What lies beneath

"Some wires got wet." That's probably a bit simplistic, but it worked for me as an explanation of why 2,800 Verizon customers are without telephone service tonight on our third day of rain. The Verizon crew invited me to take a look at what's under the street while they waited for the night crew to come relieve them.

A permanent oops

We all make mistakes...

Just playing

My mom and I went on a walk this morning with Kodi and we couldn't help but get smiles and shouts from people wanting to pet and play with Kodi. This little guy however, couldn't decide if he wanted to play or run away from Kodi, so he hid behind the pole. Of course, he ended up petting him, then playing with him, then deciding he wanted a dog.
South side of Stewart and Gray between Lakewood and Brookshire