This morning I grabbed the cell phone (a recent acquisition) and headed out the door. The goal was to take a much longer walk than I usually would do, partially to impress Jane and partially to found out just how far I can walk in a morning before I run out of gas. As it happens I lasted for two hours of brisking walking (with frequent photo stops) and made it about five-and-a-half miles. And indeed, I saw a great many things on my walk.

I don’t recall ever before having seen a fire hydrant painted quite this passionate a color.

These have been popping up around town; perhaps they’ll last longer than the stencils they are replacing. Have to wonder how much just one of these cost the city to make, though.

In 1934 there were heavy rains in L.A. for days on end. Folks in my town who worried about floods coming down from the mountains gathered for safety in the American Legion Hall, where volunteers supplied them with food and blankets. And then one of a number of flashfloods came roaring down the hill, and a mass of water, mud, and rocks swept the American Legion Hall completely away. Over thirty locals died, along with an unknown number of folks who’d been squatting in the canyons above town. This is a monument to the folks who died; it’s just where the American Legion Hall was. And running underneath it is one of the flood control channels built by the Corps of Engineers to prevent it from happening again. The location isn’t coincidental…..

I ended my walk at point where a bridge crosses the Verdugo Wash, into which the channel shown above empties; the bridge was marked with this plaque.