Lambiedog

Desperately seeking shade

    It was back to the Secret Stairs book this past Saturday for Walk #19, around a quiet Silver Lake neighborhood.   I remember nothing about the scenery, views, or historic homes we saw.  Rather, the dominant story was my continuous search for shade.

  

  We took regular water breaks, and a couple of structured siestas.  Yet I needed more. I found myself ceaselesssly scanning the horizon, attuned to all possible shade opportunities.  

Eventually we arrived at Café Tropical, where I collapsed, too exhausted to even pay attention to the dog just behind us.  The ladies, meanwhile, daintily enjoyed their iced beverages.

Do they have any understanding of what it feels like to go on a summer hike in a fur coat?

Giving tourists some winsome face time

I met some foreign tourists at the bluff.  Of course they had to take photos.

Why does everyone want to pose with me?

I guess I seem like the quintessential American.

Silver lining

    

In recent weeks, hiking has taken a back seat to sofa-sitting on my agenda.  I like it that way.  So when I was taken to Will Rogers State Park for a hike on Saturday afternoon my initial thought was to stop and refuse to ascend the trail. 
      My owner insisted, however, so I grudgingly cooperated, dawdling where possible.

 

At the top of Inspiration Point, where we stopped for water, there was a big surprise:  horses.

They were taking a break, too.   I observed them for a while.

 
Eventually, they turned and headed back down the mountain.

I followed them closely, all the way down.
 
What an unexpected pleasure the hike had turned out to be.

In flight

        Thomas carried my dog bed into the family room so I could relax during Jon Stewart.

    

Allesandro Loop

    My trainers will doubtless be gratified to note that my fitness regimen has been showing results -- as demonstrated by my recent attack of the challenging [difficulty rating 4 out of 5] Secret Stairs walk #16, the Allesandro Loop in Echo Park.  I found myself scampering along the 700-step walk with barely a pant.  Of course, the experience was eased by cool weather on that day.  So if I regress on future walks I don't want to hear any catcalls.

    The walk itself was an interesting mix of country charm and modern development, as evinced by the bucolic view below of Peru Street, with the Glendale Freeway barely visible just beneath, between the bushes to the left of the photo.

Wherein I reflect on connection, compassion, and the passage of time

    Walk #35 of the Secret Stairs book was heavy on the religion front.  It took us through an area of Hollywood that had in the twenties been the home of a number of religious movements that had also developed housing for their followers.

  First up was the Vedanta Temple, an attractive if slightly forbidding edifice.  We encountered a foreign gentleman outside who informed us that the Temple includes living quarters for about ten persons.  He stated that he himself had been a guest there for the previous two weeks, but gave no additional context.

From the Vedanta Society we moved on along some steep hills and past some interesting architecture. 

 
    After going up a short flight of stairs, we ended up to my surprise on Alcyona Terrace, right in front of the home that Thomas' friend Daren had lived in when the two of them met as four-year-olds. 

I sat on the steps and reflected on the passage of time. 

     Before it could turn into another Proust moment, we moved on up the street to see a number of buildings all related to the Theosophical Society, an eastern religion whose southern California headquarters, named "Krotona", were located here from 1912 to 1926. 

  The original bungalows and apartments erected for Theosophical Society followers are still there.  The original Krotona building is also now an apartment complex.  We walked in and saw an attractive central courtyard with one lone koi manning a pond.

   
    Thinking that we might bond around the common experience of being pets, I tried to make eye contact with the koi, but I wasn't sure whether he (she?) noticed me.  Koi tend to be inscrutable.

    Leaving the koi, we continued our walk past more former Krotona buildings, and then past a Spanish Revival castle that had once been the home of Barbara Stanwyck. 

    In a yard, we noticed a gorgeous egg sculpture.

    At the end of the loop, we continued on to Gower and walked in the direction of the Hollywood sign to Carmen Place, so that we could stop at the Monastery of the Angels, a Dominican nunnery where Teresa bought some pumpkin bread baked by the sisters. 

    My owner initially cruelly required me to wait outside, but the kind ladies running the gift shop insisted to her that she go back out to get me and carry me inside with her.  You can always trust a religious order to stand up for the small and powerless.

A boost on the uphill leg

    Teresa's husband, Roger, and daughter, Janise, came along on the Secret Stairs Franklin Park East walk.

    Roger turns out to be a softie who picked me up and carried me along up the hill behind my owner, who didn't even notice or think to question how I was doing such a good job keeping up.

    On the downhills, however, he left me to my own devices.

    In the course of the walk we encountered a ferret.  I myself have never seen the appeal of ferrets.  Just another rodent, I would say.  However, Janise and Teresa were quite enamored of this ferret that we met.

    
    Janise was very careful to make sure I got lots of attention too, so I didn't feel jealous of the ferret, just incredulous that anyone could ever find it cute.

Dolce in Surf Dog competition

        My neighbor Dolce headed for Coronado earlier this month to participate in the 6th annual Surf Dog competition, a charity fundraiser for the San Diego County public schools.

     With more than 50 dogs competing, this was no lightweight event.  Dolce had an official vest and an entry heat.  And, through family member Brett Rolin, she even had a sponsor: Banfield, The Pet Hospital.

     Although Dolce swims daily, she did not have surfing experience.  Luckily, the tournament provided some crack surf instructors who helped her pick up the rudiments of the sport.

    In the end, Dolce did not win the competition -- that honor went to a French bulldog -- but her performance was amazing for a dog who had never surfed before.  

    Her family was very proud of her.

 

Fern Dell walk

     Griffith Park in Hollywood is popular with people enjoying their holidays, so it was appropriate that we did the short Walk #32 of the Secret Stairs book there on the Memorial Day holiday.

     The book promised us a Disney-esque scenario to begin with, and it was there, if you squinted a little.   Then the walk went past some Los Feliz mansions (behind me in photo at right) and some bums (cropped from foreground).    

     Continuing along Fern Dell Place, we passed in quick succession:  a Tudor mansion named High Trilling Manor, a property owned by the American Film Institute, and Immaculate Heart High School. 

    Next came a quick staircase up to Tryon Road, which we followed to an outlook with a nice view of Griffith Observatory in the distance.

Some brief interactions with passing dogs, a final descent back to Fern Dell, and we were done and on our way back to the car.

 

     We've been knocking these staircase walks off at a good clip.  Bizarrely, however, my girth seems unaffected.  In fact, there almost seems to be an inverse relationship between exercise accomplished and weight lost.  It's quite mysterious, really.

Silver Lake walk #21

    Walk #21 in the Secret Stairs book was special, because we were accompanied by Teresa's daughter, Janise, who was home for the weekend.  

      Janise was quite solicitous of me, motivating me to do my best on some tough staircases.

     
We walked past many charming houses

        
 and encountered some sniff-worthy dogs, as well as one dog that I first mistook for a gate element.

     

  

    Janise had to return to Northern California, but I will always have the memory of her and me posing in front of the Silver Lake reservoir.