1 More Day!

Altadena is a quiet little town on the northeastern edge of the LA basin.  Wikipedia describes it as "an unincorporated census-designated place" -whatever that means. Our one claim to fame is our geographical proximity to Pasadena to the south, though we have been fighting long and hard against annexation by this neighbor.  I would describe Altadena as a bunch of houses perched on the side of a hill without a plan.  It kind of reminds me of the building tenacity of Rome -we will build whatever we want, wherever we want and nothing will stand in our way.

Okay, it's not that dramatic, but a certain amount of stubbornness is definitely required to maintain such a place.  For a town so close to LA it is surprisingly dull.  Aside from Christmas tree lighting ceremonies and hiking trails there is little in the way of entertainment. Due to our stubborn sovereignty we have no court system or police force and have to rely on the LA county sheriffs office for such tasks. That is a bit of a hassle considering their courts are usually in LA. Driving miles to argue with a judge over a traffic ticket is definitely not cool. Everyone knows cops don't go beyond Altadena Dr. unless somethings up. I.e. That's the safe point to accelerate your car. It's the kind of neighborhood where many people don't bother locking their back doors. Kids play ball in the middle of the street because Farnsworth park is too far away and they know they can get in a good 15-20 minutes before a car drives by. I remember as children riding our bikes down the steep hills after school while one unlucky child was forced to act as our lookout and yell "CAR!!!!"

There are still no sidewalks in my neighborhood, a strange oversight by the "city" planners. And riding down Lake Avenue as a child, the paved drainage ditches covered by narrow, curved driveways brought to mind moats on anachronistic miniature castles.

Altadena for all its eccentricities, is home. For now.  Tomorrow I will metamorphosis into an intrepid world traveler, but now I find myself fighting nostalgia.  Wish me luck.