Is this Pete the Cat?

Remember the classic movie scene where a train or bus goes by and one of two things happens: (1) the person on the other side is no longer there, or (2) there’s now a person on the other side.

Well, recently I was out taking pictures and videos of trains. I was in a location I had never been before but where there’s lots of train action. The only reason I had never been there before is because it’s simply too difficult to get to.

I had been watching trains for 1½ hours and had decided to leave after the next train. Well, after the next train passed, this was on the other side of the tracks:

I’m pretty sure (actually, 100% absolutely sure!) that the cat didn’t jump off the train as it went by but seeing it there reminded me of the beginner-reader book Pete The Cat’s Train Trip by James Dean.

After watching me watching her for about 15 seconds, she took off up the hillside, climbed over a wooden fence, and disappeared.

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The Boulevard in San Diego, California

Many decades ago the main east-west thoroughfare to and from San Diego was El Cajon Boulevard. About twenty miles long at its peak before the Interstate system, it is a prime example of growth and development that was shaped by the automobile. About six miles of the middle section was obliterated when Interstate 8 was built in the early 1960s; there is a small section remaining in El Cajon. The western end, from Normal Street in San Diego to Spring Street in downtown La Mesa is about eleven miles long.

The remaining eleven miles of El Cajon Boulevard presents to the historian the site of the very first Jack in the Box restaurant built at 6270 El Cajon Boulevard in 1951. Jack in the Box gave us the first drive-through and the innovation of a two-way intercom to allow one car to place an order while another car was being served. Jack in the Box has its corporate headquarters here in San Diego.

At the other end of El Cajon Boulevard is the historic Lafayette Hotel, built in 1946 with an Olympic-sized swimming pool designed by Johnny Weismuller, winner of five Olympic gold medals and the actor who played Tarzan in twelve movies, arguably the best known of the many actors who played Tarzan on film and on television. The first guest when the hotel opened in 1946 was none other than the incomparable Bob Hope.

In the latter part of the 20th century (in other words, when I came to San Diego in April 1993), El Cajon Boulevard was a hotspot for prostitution, both male and female.

El Cajon Boulevard also was the site of the El Cajon Boulevard Riot. Also known as the Drag Strip Riot, it was one of the first major youth riots of the 1960s.

The riot began during the evening of August 20, 1960, as an organized protest over the closing of Hourglass Field, an unused Navy airfield, to drag racing. Although drag racing had been organized by the San Diego Timing Association, a local group of hot rod clubs, it was unauthorized. Both the Navy and the police looked the other way because, at the time, Hourglass Field was the only off-street venue available for drag racing. On August 8, 1960, three (maybe four) bystanders were injured during a drag race, causing the Navy to shut down the airfield to drag racing.

At the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and Cherokee Street on the nights of August 20 and 21, an estimated 3,000 teenagers and adults blocked three blocks of El Cajon Boulevard and began holding impromptu drag races with just enough room for cars to race two-abreast down the street. When police arrived to disperse the crowd, many protesters fought back, showering officers with rocks and bottles.

Although I found lots of information about Hourglass Field, I found very little information about the riot itself. My research mind is in overdrive.

I’ll have to put it on my to-do list to take you on a tour of The Boulevard during daylight hours.

For the rest of this post, though, we’re going to take a darkness tour because there is a lot of nighttime fun on The Boulevard.

Here ya go:

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Advice from a tree

Moving is like archaeology in that you discover old things that were thought to be lost to history.

When Jim and I moved in May, I found many things that I thought were gone. One of them was a poster that I bought in 1976 at a forestry event. It’s all folded and crumpled but not to worry because all I have to do is take the thought and create something in Photoshop.

I’m creating a set of seven Photographic Art based on the poster, of which this is the first one:

For each succeeding artwork, the text being illustrated will be in dark blue with all other text in light gray.

The main reason why I am making these is because I have a commission to do so. My Client intends on hanging these on the walls of her new office.

Each of these is a Photoshop file, so I’ll be able to change anything that the Client wants changed. The brushed aluminum frame I used here is just for illustration purposes. My final work will not be digitally framed.

Contact me
 for unique, custom artwork
for your home or office,
or to give as a gift
to family, friends, or business associates.

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Fall, football, fleet week, festival of sail—It all starts today!

The unofficial start of the Festival of Sail at the Maritime Museum of San Diego begins today with the Parade of Sail at 3:00 p.m. For most of us here, that means it’s also the unofficial start of Fall, football, and Fleet Week (a misnomer since the “week” lasts from September 8 to October 4).

The Parade of Sail features tall ships from around the world and is, for me, one of the best events occurring each year in San Diego.

Here’s a selection of tall ships, some making San Diego their home, others visiting during the year, and still others visiting specifically for the Festival of Sail:

The Californian, official tall ship of the State of California

Most significant today is that the San Salvador, the recently completed full-size replica of the galleon that sailed into San Diego bay in 1542, will make its debut. While it is not expected to be under sail today, it will lead the Parade of Sail using its propellers, also known as “iron wind.”

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The most southwestern point in the continental United States

When the real estate bubble burst around 2008 and everyone decided to stay home on staycations, I decided to stay, too.

I set out to explore everything that San Diego County had to offer.

That was when I first discovered the most southwestern point in the continental United States.

It’s called Border Field State Park.

Border Field State Park makes the local headlines quite often because it is the only place where U.S. and Mexican families that are separated by fences and walls can go say hello to each other…. But only during certain times, and when those times are announced, headlines are made!

Road and safety conditions change frequently, and the vehicle gate is closed Monday through Friday. Other weird things…. Here is a great gateway web site to Border Field State Park.

On a recent trip to Border Field, I found a new fence. Looks like this (click on picture for a huger version):

The dohickeys hanging on the fence are mosaics created by schoolchildren throughout the area and feature wildlife that can be found at Border Field State Park. Here are some close-ups of the mosaics:

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There are a great number of horse rental businesses in the area, and I can highly recommend a horse ride to the beach where you can actually ride the horse ON the beach, the only place in San Diego County where you can do that.

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Shall we go to bed?

Many decades ago when I was but a poor college student, at the end of each semester some friends and I would travel around town gathering up all the box springs and mattresses that graduating seniors were throwing away. We would then deliver them to the homeless shelters. We thought doing that served three purposes:

1. Got rid of the visual blight that hits so many college communities at graduation time.
2. Helped the homeless shelters because they could either set up the beds for use by the homeless or sell them to make money.
3. It made us feel good.

Probably 90% of the beds were single beds, sometimes double beds, but rarely queen or king size. Those same 90% were in good condition; the only reason they were being disposed of was because the graduating senior had a job and was going to buy a much bigger bed, probably a queen or king size, figuring that, after four five six years of college, s/he had earned the privilege of buying and sleeping in a big, comfortable bed.

Memories came flooding back when I saw this bed abandoned in a college community near me:

It was all wet from a day’s worth of rain (in San Diego?) so it wasn’t salvageable, but I thought it would make an awesome picture.

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