Jump in, the water's fine

This is a small portion of the pool at Downey High School Aquatic Center on Brookshire Blvd. It is home to the Downey High School swim team and water polo team and the Downey Dolphins swim club. It is also the pool that the city uses for summer swim time that is open to the public.



They just happened to be having a swim meet at the same time I came by to take a shot of the pool.

Water for sale

This is a store that sells, among other things, reverse osmosis filtered water. Customers bring in bottles of all sizes to get filled at $0.25/gallon. While I was there, a lady came with seven 1-gallon plastic bottles and one 5-gallon bottle. There are multiple stores like this in Downey.



There's even a neon sign to advertise how pure the water is.

Peas sink

This week's theme is water. There is a lot of water at Wilderness Park, with two separate lakes. And where there is water, there are a lot of ducks and other birds that are beyond my ability to identify without a lot of googling.

I wrote last year about The care and feeding of birds, and how bread is like junk food to them. So when I knew I'd be at the park with a couple of small boys, I came prepared with one of the recommended food items—a bag of frozen peas.

Well, it seemed like a good idea. But there were several problems. First, peas sink. If you throw them into the water to the ducks, most of them sink out of sight before the ducks reach them. And if you scatter the peas on the sidewalk, the ducks won't get out of the water to get them.

But those other nameless birds will. So, we fed the birds—not the ducks—at the park. They ate the whole bag.

Except for the peas at the bottom of the lake.

The power of water

This past weekend when I revisited the riverbed, the scene was quite different from just a week ago. Where there had been a lake was basically now just dirt, and the other side that you see in the picture that had little to no water then, and now is a gushing flow that is moving so quickly I kept my distance.

"Water is powerful, it can wash away earth, put out fire, and even destroy iron. Water can carve its way thorough stone. And when trapped, water makes a new path."

Reflections, in pine

I am always drawn to reflections. Here you see not only the pines reflected, but also lost leaves floating in the water. These pines are beautiful, majestic, but here, as reflections, they are somehow less imposing; even still, they hold a kind of mystery, a magic.

"Children see magic because they look for it."
~ Christopher Moore

Still waters

Although there is not a lot of water in the Rio Hondo riverbed right now, there was enough to get a reflection of the bridge that crosses over by Crawford Park. While this bridge is not particularly special, it made for an intriguing reflection. I find it interesting that often the reflection of a thing is more appealing than the item that is being reflected.

"Reflections are a second chance to see the wonder." 
~ Anonymous

How to stay cool

Downey hit 102 degrees today. That is very hot for us who are used to an average temperature in the mid-80s at this time of year. So each of us spent part of our day trying to keep cool. Some of us can spend our day in an air-conditioned building of one sort or another. Maybe work or home or the city library.

When our children were much younger, we had a 5'x18" inflatable pool that we filled up with cool water for them to get some respite from the heat. Even I went in. Although I had to turn over from front to back to get each side wet and therefore cool. But these children have an inflatable water slide to play on. It has a collecting pool at the bottom that they land in. They were definitely cool.

How did you stay cool as a child?

Water!

With all the drought issues we have encountered this summer, I was surprised to see so much water in the riverbed. So much that more weeds than ever have popped up.

"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry."
~ Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

Alternatives

We live in a desert.

The only reason we have green grass and lush landscaping is because we pipe the water in. And now (in spite of yesterday's unusual May rainstorm), California is facing one of the most severe droughts on record.

Drought-resistant landscaping has been around for a long time, but I've noticed a definite trend around Downey toward saving water. This strip mall recently replaced their grass with this water-saving alternative.

Let the water out

Also on my bike ride yesterday along the San Gabriel river, I had noticed that the water level had increased significantly from the day before. Towards the end of my ride I found the source of the increased water. This outlet just north of Firestone was opened to release stored up water in anticipation of this weekend's heavy rain.

I don't seem to be the only one curious about the increased water flow.

A quiet moment

I spent some time at this "pond" on Sunday. It was beautiful and peaceful. There were hundreds of dragonflies of different colors buzzing around the lily pads and bees making themselves at home.

It was also dinnertime for the koi fish living here. Koi are such interesting-looking fish. According to Japanese legend, if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would become transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, the koi became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement.

It reminded me of a koi experience we had years ago on vacation. A koi was plucked out of a pond by a bird. The koi struggled so much the bird dropped him on the ground, right in front of my daughter. She didn't hesitate for a minute. She scooped up the koi and tossed him over a hedge that separated us from the pond. Hearing the splash of him landing in the water, we were sure he was some amazing fighting koi.

Water, water everywhere

The valley is full of water this season. As you turn a corner on the path approaching lower Yosemite Falls, you see this incredible view of the falls through the trees. The closer you get, the roar of the water continues to grow.

It is impossible not to be impressed by the shear power of the water as it falls on the rocks below. It almost looks like it is a solid, it takes on so many forms, continually changing as you watch.

And then you come to the streams that mesmerize you. I could watch the water run over the boulders for hours.

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
~LORAN EISELY, The Immense Journey, 1957

Out with the old and in with the new

All along Brookshire from Imperial Hwy to Firestone Blvd they are repairing old water valves and connections. Some of these valves are old enough that they have frozen shut which makes them a hazard when the water needs to be shut off in an emergency. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Is there anything in your life that needs to be fixed before it turns into an emergency?

Protecting our water

I was out driving through downtown Downey and noticed some street construction going on. I pulled over and started to investigate why they were digging holes in front of the almost completed Downey Gateway project. What I found was the Downey Water department overseeing the moving of the fire hydrant water pipe down 10 feet so it won't be underneath other pipes.

The above picture shows some of those pipes, one of which houses the high voltage lines for the street signals. The Downey Water personnel were there to protect our water supply and make sure the project's results turn out as if they had done it. This worker gets to use the hand tools.

These workers get to use the pneumatic chainsaw to cut a section of the 10" water main.

These workers are measuring the new "T" that will fill in the cut out part of the 10" pipe. Each worker has his own tape measure so they probably adhere to the old adage, "measure twice - cut once".

It's amazing what we drive over.

Bridging the gap

To wrap up my afternoon at Wilderness Park last weekend, here's one of my favorite views.

It's a favorite of many. During the warmer months, there are almost always photo shoots taking place here. But with last week's cold weather, the ducks and I had it all to ourselves.

That's a lot of water

As you drive on Interstate 5 between Downey and the San Francisco area, you follow the California aqueduct system for a good part of the way. The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipes that carries water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern and central California to southern California.

About even with San Francisco, the aqueduct divides into three branches. The I5 follows two of the branches (the east branch and the west branch) for about 250 miles. At first glance, it doesn't seem like that much water. But the average depth is 30 feet, and the width is about 100 feet. The aqueducts supply water for 25 million Californians and 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

One lonely glass

I find it kind of sad when someone orders a water and another drink and leaves the water undrunk...

Early morning riverbed

This morning I got up early to explore the Rio San Gabriel riverbed. It was a beautiful morning.

Ready or not?

Saturday was a busy day for events in Downey. In addition to the Downey firefighters fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (see "Big boots to fill"), the Downey Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC) and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) distributed free plastic water barrels for emergency water storage. These young guys handing out barrels are volunteers from the Warren High School Red Cross club.

The barrels were donated and prepared by the Downey Coca-Cola facility (see Things go better with...). The barrels varied in size from 15 to 55 gallons and there was a limit of one barrel to a car. I got one of the smaller barrels.

In addition, in the parking lot next door to the distribution location, the EPC, CERT, and American Red Cross hosted an emergency preparedness fair. I learned how (and when) to turn off the gas in case of an emergency. (Turn it off when you actually smell gas; don't turn it off "just in case," because you'll have to wait for the Gas Company to turn it back on for you.) And I learned about my embarrassing lack of disaster supplies while browsing at this and several other displays.

But at least I'll have water!

Maybe someday

It seems weird to be taking pictures of other cities but when I went to Glendale this last week, I couldn't help but wish we had somewhere like this to hang out in our own town. Shops surround the park with gorgeous apartments on top of them. The lights and water and jazz music was incredibly peaceful and beautiful. An ice cream shop on the corner provided the perfect ending to the night. The whole place looked thought out and well developed. Well done Glendale.