My Pretty Little War

Thanks to Carol Kearns and Bea Romano, "Make Music Downey" (based on France's Fête de la Musique, a national musical holiday that began in 1982) was a day selected to highlight local talent and provide a forum for the talent to be shared with the community. Bands performed at six different venues centered around the downtown area.

One of the 61 bands who participated in an all-day music festival in Downey today, "My Pretty Little War" played on the lawn of the First Presbyterian Church.





"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
~ Berthold Auerbach

Old crows watching hungrily

This is the same trimmed tree that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. It looks like it's reaching for the sky. For the the two crows perched at the top, it's a 360-degree view of their neighborhood, and they complained loudly as I walked by. (Click the photo to see a larger view.)

"An old crow watching hungrily from his perch in yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free as that feathered thief up there."
~ The Garden Song, Peter, Paul, and Mary

Thank you for your sacrifice

Today is the 69th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France known as "D" Day. I celebrated it by remembering and thanking my dad for his participation in the liberation of Europe. We recently visited Omaha Beach memorial in France. This picture shows flags of the different countries that participated in the "D" Day landing.

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you...I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle." General Dwight D. Eisenhower D-Day Quote



Downey recently unveiled a veteran's memorial near city hall. You can read about it here

Twenty nine years ago, President Reagan gave a speech to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "D" Day. Youtube has the entire speech here. It is a good reminder that when duty calls, some people fight the instinct of self preservation and instead fight evil.



We also celebrate our current servicemen by displaying their names and service branch along several streets in Downey.

The Downey wide house

There are times I've wished I had some particular camera equipment to capture the scene I'm looking at so others could enjoy what I just did. While taking a walk with my wife, I came across this house that totally surprised me. I needed a wide-angle lens but had to settle for two pictures combined to show the width of this house.

We looked the property up on Zillow to find that this house is over 9,000 square feet on a 1/2 acre lot. There's about 2,000 square feet on the second floor with the other 7,000 square feet on the first floor. The property is a little over 200 feet wide. One of the biggest pieces of property for a single-family house in Downey.

In case you're interested, it's for sale for a little over 2 million dollars.

The dogs of Treasure Island Park

And to wrap up my day at Treasure Island Park, what trip to the park is complete without checking out the dogs? Here are Cookie (right) and Bailey (left), 6 weeks old and resisting the leash with all her 6 weeks worth of stubbornness.

Treasure Island Park

Back at Treasure Island Park—Saturday I showed you all the hoopla associated with the grand re-opening of the park. Today, in keeping with my goal to show you all of the Downey parks, I want to show you the park itself.

The park is narrow—maybe 100 feet wide?—but it makes up for the narrowness by its length. Mayor Guerra, as part of his Healthy Downey program, has measured its length at 1.2 miles. The picture above is taken about half way down.

The play equipment is all brand new and much of it is tailored for the really young kids. But even the adults were trying out the "digger," below, which helps young kids develop hand-eye coordination while they're having fun.



And of course, no little kid can resist the swings.

My Big Fat Greek Food Festival

This weekend was the annual Greek Food Festival. We try to never miss it! It is always a fun event with traditional Greek music, dancing, food and more.

Unfortunately, we went late this year so I missed the roasting of the lambs, but they were still chopping away at a mountain of meat when we arrived.

Of course, there were the standard blue and white striped tents lining the area. And, the food...I simply could not resist. I had both moussaka and a spanakopita! Both were yummy.

And, I bought some great smelling cream from a booth called "Holy Honey." But, my favorite is always the dancing.



"Dance is the hidden language of the soul"
~ Martha Graham

Cutting the ribbon

After seven years of planning, organizing, persistence, and patience, Treasure Island Park reopened today. The whole neighborhood and the entire Downey city council turned out for the re-opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Council member Roger Brossmer joked that the project "has moved at the speed of...government." Assembly member Cristina Garcia, newly elected just six months ago and on hand to present a certificate of recognition to the city, said that she couldn't take any credit for getting this project done—or for the amount of time that it took!

The newly equipped park had many contributors, including the LA Conservation Corps, First 5 LA, and Amigos de los Rios. Mayor Mario Guerra thanked neighborhood resident Luann Parker (left) for her leadership.

There's much more, too much to show you in a single post. And not just for the park—this is a busy weekend for Downey events, which you'll hear more about later this week.