Saturday, July 5, 2008

Chunk's Saturday travelogue


Today was one of those too-hot summer days in So Cal that makes you realize that you're living in a desert. It was a bit hazy, maybe smoggy, but not like when I was a kid. Nothing like that.

I had to go twenty miles up the road to Orange, and so I figured I'd bring my camera along and see what I could see.

I took old Santiago Canyon Road. Stopped by mysterious Black Star Canyon:



When I got to Orange, I figured I'd stop in Old Town. Drove by my old house, built in 1903:


It's the one on the left. I'm told that, fifty years ago, it was a house of prostitution. By the time I lived in it, in the late 80s, the neighborhood was pretty wholesome. Still is. I think a gay couple lives in the house now. They added the white picket fence. I like it.

It was hot, boy. Naturally, on Prairie Home Companion, this week from the Windy City, they were doing a version of Robert Johnson's "They're Red Hot":

Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale
I got a girl, say she long and tall
She sleeps in the kitchen with her feets in the hall
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got 'em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got 'em for sale, yeah


As I recall, Johnson, the great bluesman, was a fan of Bing Crosby. Crazy, ain't it?

Here are some shots of downtown, near the Plaza:





Much of the "plaza" area was built well before the turn of the century, by which I mean, not 2000, but 1900. Cool.

Couldn't help myself. I went into some of those shops—the one's with basements. I could hear the floors creaking. I kept thinking, "I almost never come here. It would really suck if there were an earthquake right now." I love these old buildings, but visiting them is a gamble, like hiking into an active volcano.

Bought some cool retro toys for young Adam and an old Pyrex measuring cup (my cleaning lady broke my old "Fluffo" cup). Check it out.


I dunno if you can read it (below), but, at the bottom of the cup, it says: "For household and photographic use only." Huh?


I guess I'd better wash it really well before I use it. Who knows what kinda chemicals somebody put in there. Probably mercury, cyanide. Who knows.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love it - especially the pictures of downtown Orange. You should get out more often Chunk - and don't forget your camera!

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...