Lambiedog

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 1912-1926. 

  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.

 

Letter from an East Coast counterpart

The owner of a faraway Lambie reached out with this friendly message:

 I googled “Lambie puppy” and stumbled onto your site. 

I just had to share a picture of my own Lambie, a little stray that came into my life on Halloween. 

Lambie from the East Coast says “hi” to his West Coast brethren.

Cheers!

    This other Lambie looks very nice, as well as well-cared-for.  He clearly has a top-notch set of prosthetic ears.  

    And I do see a striking resemblance between us.

     Cheers right back at you, Other Lambie!

 

Alta Loma

    It was time for Walk #37 in the Fleming Secret Staircases book:  a trip to the High Tower Loop above the Hollywood Bowl. 

As we  came along Camrose Drive, we encountered a friendly little dog who didn't seem to have a home or an owner.

We were concerned about him, but then he skittered back home into a house on a side street.  It seemed he'd run out an open gate.

At High Tower Drive we looked up and saw High Tower, an exclusive elevator serving the people who live in the buildings near the top of the elevator.  Residents park in the garages below and, if they're lucky enough to have the magic key,  can take the elevator up to their little neighborhood.  The High Tower was built in the 1930s and has shown up in a bunch of movies.

Since we didn't have the elevator key we walked up the Broadview Terrace steps and arrived at the upper exit of the High Tower.  

 

We were surrounded by incredible views and interesting houses.

     We soaked up the ambiance for a bit, then walked downhill along the Alta Loma Terrace walk street, which was also very ambiantic, if I might coin a word.  

       
    The heat was daunting.   I tried to grab the shade wherever I could.

On our next expedition we're going to have to take a page from the mountaineers who ascend Everest or Kilimanjaro, and get going way before sunrise.  I am something of a delicate flower, and tend to wilt in the heat.

Sunset Junction

Another Sunday, another stair walk.  Last weekend it was Walk #20 from the Secret Stairs book.

       

             On the agenda:  evocative architecture, magnificent views and lovely flowers.
    
          

We also met a number of dogs. Several were on a group power walk with a trainer.  Another was being carried, in a manner familiar to me.

At the walk's end we stopped at a cafe. I had a moment of anxiety while my owner went inside to place our order, but Teresa comforted me.   And soon everything was back in its place.

           

A luta continua

    

    Another day, another weight loss walk. A luta continua. Last weekend the agenda was a long staircase walk in Silver Lake and the Angelino Heights area -- Walk # 12 in the Fleming Secret Stairs book.

    We started out at Echo Park Lake.  There were some ducks there, although I did not find them all that fascinating.

     I encountered a dog on Laveta Terrace. 

 
    But the high point of the walk was our exposure to the homes in and around Angelino Heights.

     We saw several lovely Craftsman houses, and a lot of Victorian homes.

    On Carroll Avenue, we encountered a Japanese tourist come to pay homage to the house, shown at right,  that appears in the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. (Photo from laist blog.)

    My favorite property, however, was neither Victorian nor Craftsman, but Spanish, and it was not located in the center of the Angelino Heights neighborhood but rather on the outskirts, on Kensington Road near Laveta Terrace.  It is actually two houses, fronting on an incredible cactus garden.

    You can see me posing there with Teresa in the photo above.

Canal sprint

 

    We have a new fresh approach to exercise, replacing last year's fresh approach.  

    This one recognizes and addresses the Achilles heel of exercising locally:  the difficulty I have in walking away from my home.  I keep stopping and refusing to go further, in the hope that this silent protest might convince my owner to turn around.

    Under the new regime, she puts me in the car and drives me to our exercise spot.  This practice both leverages my enthusiasm for car rides and  neutralizes my homing instinct, since, similar to a blindfolded hostage, I am disoriented and have no idea how to get home.

    Our itinerary today was Venice, for an entertaining canal walk.

(We couldn't take a boat ride because all the boats in the canals are individually owned by canal residents.)     

I saw ducks,

     classy residences,

         and threatening residents.

 

     All in all, I had a great time.  Although I am not ashamed to be a traditionally-built dog, I fancied I could feel some of my bulk melting off.

Socializing at Society of the Spectacle

     We went to pick up some new eyeglasses at Society of the Spectacle.        

    I was prepared to have to wait outside, but this turned out to be an emporium very friendly to those of my ilk.  The resident dog -- Violet by name -- welcomed me and actually brought out one of her toys to share.  

    It was a fun outing for me.  And the glasses looked good, too.    

 

    On the way home I rested and reflected on Violet's generous nature.

 

I climb some stairs

  

 My first get-fit scenic health hike took place last weekend when, inspired by the book Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles, I went on a stair walk in Silver Lake with my owner and her friend Teresa.   We saw interesting architecture, and I made a couple of new friends.

    I also climbed stairs -- a lot of them. 

     The walk was long and arduous but I kept my wits about me and was a good hiking companion.  But once we reached the end and stopped for a coffee (them) and water (me) at Café Tropical, I settled down for a snooze.  I was spent.

Postcard from America's Vacationland

    Winnie and Ollie sent this photo from Colorado where they are enjoying their annual vacation.   

    They've been going on hikes every day and are clearly getting into great shape.  (Trudie stayed home in a board and care facility, since exercise is no longer her thing.)  

    These dogs are poster children for the healthful properties of mountain air, meadow romps, forest tromps, and so on.  

    Maybe I'll take a hike today too. A short one.  Got to build up slowly.

Dispatch from the south of France

 

My European correspondent has sent me some photos of French dogs engaged in their native routines:

         

         

         

I note that these dogs seem perhaps more urbane than us simple country folk who gather at the bluff.