Winter - Mammoth Mountain, CA

31 Jan 2009
Going down the easy run (Pumpkin - south side of the mountain).
31 Jan 2009
Going up, reflected.

Waiting - Getty Villa Museaum, Pacific Palisades, CA

December 2008

Memories of New Year's Past

Mama, me (5 years old) & tata (Dad) in our apartment on the 7th floor of the 10 story 'skyscraper' on 139 Marshall Tito St in Tuzla, Bosnia (former Yugoslavia). We were celebrating the New Year, which was when the "jelka" (fir tree) was decorated and "Deda Mraz" (Grandpa Frost) came to bring presents, in the then communist Yugoslavia.
Photos for festive occasions were taken by a professional photographer, this one from FotoServis. My mom is still a beauty. Photo from pre-school (obdaniste) - my friend and next door neighbor, Mischa (Milos S.), and I (we had just finished making the skirts and the hats). I remember that I had a fever that day.

Milos moved with his parents to Novi Sad, Serbia in '71 or '72.

Memories of St. Stephen's Day Past - Vienna, Austria

Father Adam of Monastery Daily Photo and Merisi of Vienna for Beginners, reminded me that today is the Feast of St. Stephen. This brought back a memory of the same day 20 years ago, when my husband and I spent Christmas holidays in Salzburg and Vienna. On the chilly morning of 26th, we found ourselves by St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and joined many Viennese and tourists inside for St. Stephen's Day Mass. Outside on Stephansplatz, a Romanian Dixieland Jazz band was celebrating the overthrow of the oppressive dictator Ceauşescu and the fall of communism in their country.

Merry Christmas - St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler College (former Ponce de Leon Hotel) tower, St. Augustine, Fl.
The St. Augustine Light tower was built in 1874, Anastasia Island, Florida.

St. Brigid - San Francisco, CA

"St. Brigid Church is a cultural and architectural landmark in the Marina, Pacific Heights and Russian Hill neighborhoods. St. Brigid’s survived the 1906 earthquake, the great depression, two world wars – and an attempt by San Francisco’s Catholic archdiocese to demolish it. The Committee to Save St. Brigid Church was successful in landmarking the exterior of the building, including the beautiful stained glass windows imported from Ireland."

St Brigid.org

(Photo taken while stopped at a traffic light on Van Ness, February 2009 - I was struck by the beauty and intricacy of the facade.)

At the Former Ponce de Leon Hotel - St. Augustine, Florida (2)

Flagler College - St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler College - History of Ponce de Leon Hotel
(When we arrived at JAX airport, we asked the rent-a-car attendents, "What is a something that we must see while in Jacksonville?" One of the women immediately responded, "St. Augustine.")

Downtown & St. Johns River - Jacksonville, Florida

Again taken from the 19th floor of the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront (formerly the Adams Mark) hotel.

Night over St. Johns River & Main Street Bridge - Jacksonville, Florida

I had the best view of the city from the Hyatt hotel room on the 19th (& top) floor. The blue bridge is the Main Street Bridge. Note the railroad bridge under the 2nd highway bridge."The massive Main Street "vertical lift span" Bridge ... was built in the 1930s to carry US 1 over the St. Johns River. Made of eleven steel stringer spans and three Warren through trusses, the 365-foot long continuous truss vertical lift span at the center is the longest in Florida. The span-drive system, which puts the drive machinery on the movable span, utilizes concrete counterweights enclosed within two large steel frame towers. Although builders emphasized functional considerations, the bridge produces an aesthetic effect through its strength, 200-foot high lift towers, and commanding reach across the St. Johns River measuring 1,680 feet in length." http://bridgepros.com/projects/mainst.Jax/Mainstreet.htm

View Point of the Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA

Overlooking Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, Bookside Park, and a bit of the Rose Bowl, from near the intersection of N. Grand Ave. and Arroyo Terrace, by one of the trailheads to Arroyo Terrace Trails. (Photographed on 1-18-2009.)

Mosaic - Pasadena, CA

Above the underground parking at 1 South Grand Ave., Pasadena. I have not been able to find any info on this mosaic depicting the best of Southern California living, perhaps from the 1940's?
Photos taken on 18 Jan 2009.

Union Station - Los Angeles, CA

Union Passenger Terminal, 1934-1939

John & Donald B. Parkinson; J.H. Christie, H.L. Gilman, R.J. Wirth; Herman Sachs, color consultant; Tommy Tomson, landscape architect

East side of North Alameda Street, between Aliso and Macy Streets

"The last of the large metropolitan passenger depots to be built in the U.S. The terminal provided for sixteen tracks and for extensive parking (120 cars underground and 400 in front of the building). Landscaped grounds and courtyards convey an indoor-outdoor sense of space seldom encountered in large-scale public buildings. The design successfully merged the Streamline Moderne and the Spanish. The 135-foot-high observation and clock tower, the principal interion sapces, and the patios manage to convey both modernity and tradition."

(Ref. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles by David Gebhard and David Winter, Entry 11. in Downtown, Plaza and Northeast)

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church - Los Angeles, CA

"From Wikipedia: St. Vincent de Paul Church is a Roman Catholic parish and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #90) in the West Adams section of Los Angeles, California. The church was built in the 1920s and designed by architect Albert C. Martin, Sr. Dedicated in 1925, it was located in what was then one of the wealthiest sections of the city, on land adjacent to the Edward Doheny Mansion and Stimson House. It was only the second Roman Catholic church in Los Angeles to be consecrated."

Cheering on the Walkers at St. Vincents - Los Angeles, CA

Taken on 7 Nov. 2009.

The United Way sponsored 2009 HomeWalk to end homelessness passed by the church at the corner of W. Adams Blvd. and Figueroa St.

FELIX Chevrolet, Los Angeles, CA

The sign, erected in 1957 at Felix Chevrolet (3300 S. Figueroa St. - on the corner of Figueroa and Jefferson Boulevard), was declared a historic-cultural monument in 2007.

Art Wall - Culver City, CA

Building at the corner of Hughes Ave and Washington Blvd. (Artist who painted the facade of the building is unknown to me - for now.)

LAX Theme Building

Renovation of the LAX theme building is almost complete.

Old poster replica on the wall of a coffee shop in the International Terminal. See more vintage views at Pasadena Adjacent- Theme Building at LAX.
"The building (the central theatrical flying saucer restaurant) was designed by Pereira, Williams, and Becket in the mid '50s and established the space-age theme of the passenger terminal area." - Ref. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles by David gebhard and Robert Winter.

Palms at Belmont Pier - Long Beach, CA

Thursday evening's sunset (Nov. 5, 2009).

All Saints' Day at Mary Star of the Sea - San Pedro, CA

At Mary Star, the Mass is celebrated in English, Spanish, Croatian and Italian.

Night Shift at the Mark Taper Forum - Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles Music Center, October 25, 2008.

Beechcraft KingAir 350 - Mammoth Yosemite Airport, CA

August 2009

We were just visiting the airport and watching a couple of airplane land. This one was headed for Lake Tahoe. A rain storm was passing south of the airport.

Hwy 395, Between Mammoth Lakes and Lee Vining, California

Photo taken on July 18, 2009.

UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

Royce Hall - a definitive photo of University of California, Los Angeles, Royce Hall.

Two Palms and Blue Building - Van Nuys, CA

Marion Davies Guest House - Santa Monica State Beach, CA

Great write-up on the history of the property is at

Dear Old Hollywood Blog

The Sky Room - Long Beach, CA

Restaurant at the top of the former Breakers Hotel (now a senior living facility.)

Crystalaire Airport, Llano, CA

Blanik sailplane (glider) from Southern California Soaring Academy being pulled by a tow plane.

Reflection on D&C Canal - Delaware City, Delaware

Continuation from yesterday down the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal with houses on Canal St.

(15 August 2009)

Reflection - Delaware City, DE

View of building on Canal St. in Delaware City, New Castle Co., from the original Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. (15 August 2009, 7:35 am)

Vincent Thomas bridge at Sunrise

Vincent Thomas bridge at sunrise, during a morning commute from San Pedro toward Long Beach. The orange sky is the result of ash in the air from the Station Fire.

Under the Bridge - Vincent Thomas Bridge, San Pedro, CA

BIG in The Bronx

Huge apartment building next to the New England Trwy is part of the Co-Op City, in the Burough of the Bronx, New York City, NY.
Wikipedia - Co-Op City, Bronx

Convict Lake, Eastern Sierra Nevadas, CA

Sparkling in the afternoon sun.