A quiet hideaway

Just 200 miles north of Downey on the California central coast, just past Moro Bay, is the town of Cayucos. Bonnie and I will be spending a few days here to celebrate our anniversary.

Cayucos was founded in 1867 by Capt. James Cass as a business venture. He built a pier, you can see it in the background, to export local goods and import necessary goods for the growing population of the central coast. It has long ago been replaced by other piers in larger towns so today it is used only by walkers, fishermen, and photographers. We come here for the miles of walking beaches and just to watch the ocean. Sometimes, we spot dolphins.

Where do you go for a retreat?

Downey Symphony Orchestra

Tonight's concert at Furman Park featured the Downey Symphony Orchestra directed by Sharon Lavery, Music Director. We heard several John Williams movie scores including Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. There was a tribute to the military where they played the theme song for each branch and had those that were serving, had served, or had relatives that served in that branch to stand up when your theme song was played. I loved the young children that were brought and how they played by acting out the music.

This is Ashley and Janette, who work with the Downey Civic Theater that hosts the Downey Symphony Orchestra during their performance season. You can check out upcoming performances of the symphony here and the theater here.

This baritone horn caught my eye because it has four valves, one is being pushed down, rather than the usual three.

During the concert, some of the Downey Junior princesses go among the spectators and sell raffle tickets. I think it develops in them the confidence and composure to speak with others. Not everyone said yes.

National Night Out

The first Tuesday in August has been recognized by communities around the country as National Night Out. In the interests of increasing community spirit and enhancing crime prevention awareness, Downey had its own first annual National Night Out.

Home Depot had a booth and was giving away free plants.  (I picked up a habanero plant.) The fire station had all sorts of equipment out that they were demonstrating (mostly for the kids), and there were bike safety demonstrations. It was a pretty good turnout and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Pointing the way

Some day, Furman Park is going to have a new state-of-the-art walking path instead of a dirt path that sometimes turns muddy. But for now, just in time for Walking Wednesdays with the Mayor, new signs along the Health Trail point the way to better health through regular exercise.

This first new sign (above), with its aerial view of the Health Trail, answers a question that has long been on my mind. It turns out that it takes two trips around the park to walk a mile (or 1.1 miles to be precise).

At right, the yellow sign (along with several others at key points) answers a question that I don't think I've ever asked—do I need to turn here to stay on the path? I guess it's a helpful sign to those who are new to the park.

Evolution

Some structures happen by design, after careful thought and consideration. Others evolve over time. I think that's what happened with this fence. I can imagine this series of conversations.

"Honey, let's put up one of those rustic split-rail fences." "Great idea!"

And a few years later, "That split-rail fence just doesn't provide any privacy! What can we do?" "How about a wood trellis fence? It will still let the breeze come through."

And later still, "Dear, that fence doesn't block enough of the busy street noise. Let's make it longer".

A week later, "It's still not long enough."

And finally, "Sweetums—"  "No more!"

This little piggy...

The Orange County Fair had a farm animal section. The piglets were contentedly nursing as hundreds of people milled past their enclosure. They really were adorable. Look at the face of the little one at the bottom. I swear he's smiling.

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
~Winston Churchill

That's a lot of sand!

Three hundred tons of sand is what the Orange County Fair boasts holding for its annual sand sculpture creation. Professionals are brought in to do the work while the fair is going on so people can watch the magic being made. Here, a few forced volunteers stand in front to show you how big it really is.

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.