Greetings from My Parents’ House in West Covina, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, December 9, 2007.
I was all set to use a shot of the balloon ride at the Great Park in Irvine (http://www.greatparkballoon.org/) as my photo of the week. Thursday afternoon I was driving home from a lunch meeting when the “giant orange” came into my peripheral view. The new ride has odd operating hours – open only on Thursdays & Fridays 10 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays & Sundays 9 AM to 3 PM – but I was in the right place at the right time so I decided to take the ride. Unfortunately strong winds grounded the balloon for the day. I took some pictures with absolute certainty that one of them would be the weekly photo. But something happened.
The windy weather was a precursor to a rainstorm on Friday leaving smog-free skies and snow-capped summits. Last weekend I visited my parents and from their house is a great view of those peaks. I saw the white-on-white scene of mighty mountains and cotton clouds and had to take a snapshot. The picture isn’t perfect. The foreground shows power lines from an electric sub-station and a blue building with its semi-obscured yellow sign – the Ikea superstore in the neighboring city of Covina. Nonetheless it’s the photo of the week.
The rain and snow are clear signs of autumn with winter soon to follow. The days are still sunny and warm but the nights have gotten chilly. Then again I consider anything below 70 degrees Fahrenheit to be cold. I have never experienced a winter of sub-zero temperatures and hope I never do. Then there are people who dream of them…
Take Irving Berlin for example. This songwriter’s musical talent brought him to Hollywood and the entertainment business. His time spent here inspired the song and movie “White Christmas”. The warm weather and tropical trees of America’s Southwest contrasted starkly to the cold and snowy winters of his youth in New York City and the Northeastern USA. The song’s original first verse was about the palm trees and swimming pools of Los Angeles and explained why Mr. Berlin was “dreaming of a white Christmas, like the ones [he] used to know.”
Give me a Southern California winter any day. Hmm… “I’m dreaming of a warm Christmas, like the one I had last year. With palm trees swaying and children playing on the lawn with the fake reindeer.” Mr. Berlin must be turning in his grave. Sorry, Irv.
Angelo
PS: I had a typo in my last email. The correct French phrase is “C’est la vie” not “Cie la vie”. Alas, I’m only human – I think…
Photo was taken on Sunday, December 9, 2007.
I was all set to use a shot of the balloon ride at the Great Park in Irvine (http://www.greatparkballoon.org/) as my photo of the week. Thursday afternoon I was driving home from a lunch meeting when the “giant orange” came into my peripheral view. The new ride has odd operating hours – open only on Thursdays & Fridays 10 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays & Sundays 9 AM to 3 PM – but I was in the right place at the right time so I decided to take the ride. Unfortunately strong winds grounded the balloon for the day. I took some pictures with absolute certainty that one of them would be the weekly photo. But something happened.
The windy weather was a precursor to a rainstorm on Friday leaving smog-free skies and snow-capped summits. Last weekend I visited my parents and from their house is a great view of those peaks. I saw the white-on-white scene of mighty mountains and cotton clouds and had to take a snapshot. The picture isn’t perfect. The foreground shows power lines from an electric sub-station and a blue building with its semi-obscured yellow sign – the Ikea superstore in the neighboring city of Covina. Nonetheless it’s the photo of the week.
The rain and snow are clear signs of autumn with winter soon to follow. The days are still sunny and warm but the nights have gotten chilly. Then again I consider anything below 70 degrees Fahrenheit to be cold. I have never experienced a winter of sub-zero temperatures and hope I never do. Then there are people who dream of them…
Take Irving Berlin for example. This songwriter’s musical talent brought him to Hollywood and the entertainment business. His time spent here inspired the song and movie “White Christmas”. The warm weather and tropical trees of America’s Southwest contrasted starkly to the cold and snowy winters of his youth in New York City and the Northeastern USA. The song’s original first verse was about the palm trees and swimming pools of Los Angeles and explained why Mr. Berlin was “dreaming of a white Christmas, like the ones [he] used to know.”
Give me a Southern California winter any day. Hmm… “I’m dreaming of a warm Christmas, like the one I had last year. With palm trees swaying and children playing on the lawn with the fake reindeer.” Mr. Berlin must be turning in his grave. Sorry, Irv.
Angelo
PS: I had a typo in my last email. The correct French phrase is “C’est la vie” not “Cie la vie”. Alas, I’m only human – I think…
