Road Works

It's been rather exciting in our area recently.  They've been building a road right opposite the house.  It used to be just dirt, and in the winter the snow and rain would cause all kinds of problems for the few people that live there.  I always felt sorry for absentee owners who came up late on a Friday night only to find they had a huge wall of snow and ice to climb over to gain access.  Now they will be able to drive their cars up.

The more observant of you will notice that there is a temporary toilet on the right.  This is a clear signal that these boys are serious.  Once the toilet is installed then work begins and the resultant trucks begin revving up.  It drove the Poodles mad for a day or two but they settled down.

I've spoken to a couple of the workmen, and they seem decent chaps.  Soon they will lay down six inches of asphalt on top of the six inches of hard packed reclaimed road surface - no doubt from a previous job.  It will be a huge improvement in the area and I'm sure the owners will enjoy their new road when they visit.  The road ends at the top of the picture.  In the process 60 trucks of earth have been removed.  It's been interesting to observe the process, which is just outside my office window, but I shall not miss the toilet!

Additional Music Track

This came up on my Facebook page and I thought it was just too good not to post on the blog.

I know many of you are terrified that I might post a Lady Ga Ga track, and this might be a little lead in as it's really just hilarious.  The blokes are pretty good too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_0oOc6Lf8

Yes I'm not afraid to admit it; I do like the Lady!

Politics

I try and keep away from politics in this blog, not wishing to alienate half my audience, but I'm really having a hard time with the TV ads this season.  (Thank Heavens for the mute button!)  It seems to me we have been given very bad choices for the Governor's race.  And frankly I doubt whether either Whitman or Brown can stop the nonsense that is California at the moment.

I really don't care if Whitman hired an illegal alien, or Brown was banging Linda Ronstadt like a screen door in a gale, how on earth are either of them going to stop the rot.  Poor old Arnold had a go early in his term by offering several ballot measures to halt the explosion of benefits.  Sadly, if you give people free stuff they are unlikely to vote for restraint - other people's free stuff OK; but not mine!

It's always easy to play the "soak the rich" card, but the way we're going out here, there won't be any rich people left to soak - they'll all have moved to Nevada, and the White Supremacists will have gone to Idaho.

I am always surprised however at the way people imagine that the same politicians, whom they have elected for the last few decades can be expected to change the things for which they alone have been responsible.   And could they please stop fighting for me, and leave me the hell alone!

Strawberry Peak

Sunday's column was about the fire lookout at Strawberry Peak.  It's located high above the small town of Rim Forest.  It's a devil to get to if you don't know the way, as the final signpost has vanished.  But tenacity got me there.  Having committed myself to doing this piece I was damned if I was going home empty handed.

Strawberry Peak Fire Lookout

Once you make the journey, and climb the iron steps the view is amazing.  It overlooks all of San Bernardino and out into the valleys on both sides.  The lookout along with its sisters, Keller Peak and Butler Peak, were built in the 1930's.  They are manned by a group of volunteers who scan the mountains for fires breaking out.  If fire is spotted they call in to a central command, and helicopters are dispatched to get an early start on any blaze.  We're in the peak of the fire season at the moment but we've been lucky with cool weather and some drizzle so far.  You can read the entire column at www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels 

MUSIC TRACK - Pink Floyd

This week's music track is from Pink Floyd.  I was never a big fan of theirs but I saw this track on a recent Facebook posting and I have to say it is quite an interesting piece of music - about 10 minutes long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyqgjCKm9nQ  See what you think.

EDWARD-DEAN

The large picture at the bottom of the blog is from the Edward-Dean Museum in Cherry Valley.  The scene is of the Pine Room.  I did a video of this place a couple of years ago - you can watch it at www.sbsun.com/trevorstreasures or from my Web site.

The museum is a very elegant place to visit and was the country home of these two men who were Hollywood collectors and antique dealers in the 50's.

I have a personal link with the Pine Room as the paneling came from Cassiobury House in Watford.  The house had been leveled by the time I was born, but the park, which was part of the Earl of Clarendon's estate since the time of Henry VIII, was a place I knew well growing up as a boy.

IMAGINATION

I wonder if we are slowly losing our imaginations.  Together with S.W.M.B.O., I went to the movies yesterday and as usual we saw a number of trailers for upcoming films.  Many of them were extremely gory and unpleasant.  In fact none of them appealed to the two of us at all.  It made me wonder, not for the first time, if people, and especially young people, are losing their ability to conjure up ideas and thoughts.

If everything is so graphically displayed then there is little need to imagine anything.  It so happened that later on that evening one of my most favorite films came on TV.  The Third Man with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton.  There was a scene where a well matured man entered a hotel with a much younger woman.  Later on the same couple were portrayed coming down the main stairs.  The situation was pretty obvious, but I wonder if the youth of today would have caught the inference without explicit bedroom scenes.  As the man was played by Wilfred Hyde White, I think we should be grateful for the omission.

Perhaps that is why so many films need over two hours to get their points across - The Third Man took just 104 minutes and will always remain a gem.  It was in black and white too

Visit

It's time I took the turnoff to Green Valley Lake.  It's just up the road from Running Springs and a lovely location for some quiet reflection and perhaps a bit of fishing if that's your interest.


Green Valley Lake, CA

 

Recently a fire came through and scorched several of the buildings, but by now the damage will have diminished.

The lake is "owned" by all the residents and visitors have to pay a small fee to fish, or put in a boat.  No engines are allowed on the lake, and you can rent canoes and other small craft from the office.  It is always worth the short 3 miles detour up to this pleasant spot, which overlooks Lake Arrowhead a few miles to the west.

TIRADES

Don't forget to check the very bottom of the blogs for the weekly TIRADE. It's below the Local Tracks section and the big photo.

Since I have begun these, S.W.M.B.O. has noticed a reduction in my usual rants at the TV set as instead I'm busy thinking how it would work on the blog. So it's doing the two of us some good at least!

Loonies

Recently there have been TV adverts encouraging us to be more accepting of mental ill health.  Now, I totally understand that one should not be unkind to people suffering with this type of problem, but there comes a point where such altruism is a hard pill to swallow.  I feel it's instinctive to shy away from extremes in social behavior - perhaps even a defensive mechanism over which we have little control.

The other day, while traveling on a train, a fairly well dressed woman came into the compartment talking in a loud voice.  There was no one with her and I assumed that she must be having a conversation with her secret and invisible friend.  In other words a wacko.  I naturally tried to ignore the behavior, although the volume of her conversation made it quite hard.  This invisible and secret friend seemed to be a man with whom she was very annoyed.  Well, you know how difficult men can be, even the invisible ones!

As she turned around to take her seat I noticed some sort of device screwed into her ear - Ah, she was on the phone.  Now is it just me or does this sort of thing drive you crazy?  Instead of trying to make us more tolerant of wacko behavior, can't we devote our energies to inventing a flashing light to let people know that the wearer is on the phone and not a sufferer of Tourette's syndrome.  I think we'd all feel so much better.

Trains

Perhaps because I began my working life with daily train commutes up to London, I've always enjoyed this form of transit.  It's not easy in S.California to spend much time on trains as they don't seem to go anywhere you want.  But the other day in pursuit of an assignment, I took the Blue Line from Long Beach to downtown  L.A.  I've done it once before and it's quite an easy run.

Blue Line train at Wardlow Station

We were going along quite merrily and everyone was settled in, when horror of horrors an anouncement was made (in both English and Spanish) that we were to vacate the train and journey on in buses - there was construction on the line.  Now I have to admit that I hate buses.  They go in weird directions and keep turning away from where I want to end up.  I confess that in 28 years out here, I have never once traveled on one.  But there was little choice on this occasion as the train had stopped in an "undesirable" area of the city, and I wasn't going to walk!

It was a thoroughly nasty business.  There was a complete trainload crammed into a bus - even though it was one of those odd contraptions that had a back compartment with a bellows connecting the two parts.  An experience I shall not want to repeat - at least for another 28 years.  That would make me... Oh, never mind!

Anniversary

Sunday's column was a different type.  In fact it was rather self-indulgent.  It was the tenth anniversary of Trevor's Travels, although the name of the column has changed from the original "Day Trip."  This first piece was about Butlers Peak, the fire lookout over Big Bear lake.  I found it a few months ago in my records.

Summons with the first piece published

Having spent 40 years in sales, I never imagined that when I retired, I would begin a new "career" and one which was to span an additional ten years.

The start of the selling process is often the worst.  Namely finding someone to talk to; then you have to ask a lot of questions, and lead them gently to the obvious conclusion.  This new job of mine still allows the questioning part and the writing up of the business, but boy, is the first part easier!  I rarely have to contact anyone twice to set up an appointment.  Funny that!  You can read the column and also hear the three-minute podcast at www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

MUSIC TRACK

This week's Music Track was sent to me by a friend.  It's a really old favorite - one of Sam Cook's, I think.  But the recording takes place all over the world - it's a marvel of sound engineering.  The email that accompanied it said "Bet you can't listen to it only once!"  I agree.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

Design

For any of you who might be a little confused, I have settled on a design policy for the blog.  Blogger.com allows users to change the design, colors and layout of the blog as often as one wants.

After a number of really lengthy meetings (!!!!!!) I have decided to change the colors and general layout just once a month.  It should keep you awake and me motivated.  If you don't like a particular element or have any suggestions please let me know in the comment box or at trevorsummons@hotmail.com

Keep reading!