When it Rains...

...trees fall down. We're having a run of frosty mornings and sunny days so I'm not complaining. We took Spike up to the swimming pond which is above this trail. In the past, we've done an out and back sort of thing because we didn't want to commit to more than we could do, but we were up to the challenge today and did the entire loop. We encountered this tree across the trailto the end. The roots are very shallow and when the ground is this saturated these big trees tend to keel over. 

As often happens on a Sunday, we met lots of people, most of whom are interested in hearing Spike's story, especially after he barrels into their shins! He gets quite energised after a swim. 

We met one woman who told us the history of the area. Her family owned a lot of the land and her grandfather dug the big swimming pond. It's fed by a spring so there is always water in it. Her father sold a large parcel to a conservation group who donated it to the Regional Park District. The large compound, which we speculate about every time we see it ,which is next to the pond  is owned by a mega wealthy guy with many homes. It seems that he is never there. Her own family home is nearby. When she told her father about the fallen tree, his comment was, 'one thing I don't have to worry about anymore.'

I just got a text from my brother who was in Pasadena with a friend whose house in Altadena burned down. The childhood home is gone but he sent a picture of the second house we lived in which was spared. The one next door burned to the ground. I'm putting that picture in extras just for my own record.