Petra – Page 32 – FrogBlog | Translating Los Angeles

Taking A Trip

1850: In a covered wagon from Independence/Missouri to California along the Oregon and California Trail (approx. 2,000 miles) – 6 months. Timed right, one left in Spring and arrived in October. That was under good conditions – if they were unfavorable, one might not arrive at all.

1858: First non-stop stage coach from St. Louis to Los Angeles (2,000 miles) – 20 days. Hard on the derrière for passengers.

1860: Pony-Express from St. Louis to Sacramento (1,996 miles) – 11 days. They took mail only, no passengers. Tough luck.

1876: First trip of the Transcontinental Express train from New York City to San Francisco – 83 hours and a bit. Now passengers can speed from coast to coast.

1923: First non-stop flight Long Island to San Diego (2.470 miles) – 25 hours 50 minutes. The plane had to be adjusted to carry the massive amounts of fuel needed. No passengers, sorry.

1929: First combined rail and air passenger service from coast to coast – 48 hours. No non-stop service, though.

2006: Traveling by car from New York City to Los Angeles – 31 hours 4 minutes. Some speed limits were broken while setting the new record.

More Tales Of The Island

About the last thing I expected to see on Catalina Island were bison. Right – I had not done my homework, otherwise I would have been aware of this story:

1924 a herd of 14 bison were transported to Catalina Island to act as extras in a silent movie (“The Vanishing American” ). After filming was done – and here the reports get a bit sketchy – the film company either left the animals on the island for cost reasons or because they could not round up the bison again to take them back. Be that as it may, the bison stayed and became a tourist attraction. They also multiplied and became reason for concern: The eco system of Catalina Island is rather fragile and was and is not set up to support several hundred bison, happily munching away on rare plants indigenous to the island.

Now and then some animals were taken off the island, but the herd grew to around 350 head – too many to stay there. At this point the Catalina Island Conservancy came up with the plan to return some of the animals to their home, home being the Great Plains. But would they survive there after 80 years in sunny California? Very quietly a herd of about 50 head were taken off the island and sent to the land of the Cheyenne, who were partners in this experiment. Surprisingly enough the bison adjusted within weeks to the different weather conditions, grew a nice thick winter pelt and thrived on the more nourishing grass of their old home.

After this test run, both the Conservancy and the Indian tribes knew that the repatriation would not harm the animals. With the help of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and some others, in 2004 funding was found to round up 100 bison, ship them to the mainland and transport them by truck the roughly 2,000 miles to South Dakota to the land of the Lakota tribe.

A short video can be seen here.

There are still bison on Catalina Island, a herd of about 150 animals. The island can sustain this many and for the visitor it is a wonderful experience to see some of these remarkable animals in the wild without having to travel 2,000 miles.

Cute!

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

As much as I love roses in the house

they do look prettier outside in this perfect autumn sun.

A Much More Respectable Bird

Good old Benjamin Franklin. His opinion of the turkey was quite interesting:

I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.

This is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to his daughter, lamenting the choice of the Bald Eagle as the national bird of the US. His view of the Bald Eagle was … well:

For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labor of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country…

So, there we are.

Good to know that the bird brining away in the fridge is “most respectable”, a “bird of courage” and does not have a “bad moral character.”

Just imagine it were otherwise – the horror, the horror!

Can One Love Both The Same?

Languages, languages – sorry, nothing spicy or racy.

Last weekend someone asked me “do you think in German or English?” It took me not a second to answer “that depends on the subject and the mood I am in.”

Living with two languages is fun. I actually learned more than one foreign language, but English is the only other language I use besides German nowadays. English is also the language I love just as much as German.

What I realized through the years however is this: Mastering a foreign language is a life-long learning process. It needs more than having a large vocabulary at hand and (hopefully) perfect grammar. Understanding the society the language is used in is a big key. How can one truly understand a poem by Wordsworth to its fullest extend without knowing the times and mores he lived in and with? The works of Walt Whitman without the knowledge of what went on in his country (and his life) when he was writing? Or jump forward – modern writers in the UK and the US without a strong background of political and sociological changes in said countries?

Coming back to subject and mood – yes, these factors are important when quietly turning over thoughts in my mind. Generally it works like this: With everyday subjects or work-related ones, I think in English. With subjects of a more personal mode or slow contemplation of matters important on a deep and profound level – out comes the German.

And when I want to read German at its best and fullest and most innovative or when I am afraid of losing my grasp on my native language, I turn to an old favorite: “Unser ungelebtes Leben”, the letters of Kurt Tucholsky to his wife Mary. The mastery of the language, the insight into life cultural and politic (and those times were deeply troubled), the quest for personal happiness which ended in deep desperation, all this combines to make me think that maybe, just maybe I love the German language just a wee bit more than the English one. Which I will surely be forgiven for.

Should I ever be asked which book would be my choice to take to that uninhabited island – this would be the one.

Empty Streets & Crunchy Fish

Things seem to be changing – apparently Angelenos are taking off more and more days for a holiday around Thanksgiving. That’s the only explanation I have for the streets being (comparatively) empty already on the Sunday before the holiday weekend.

Which is fine. I like it. It is really pleasant. And makes for a swift short drive to the best fish market and restaurant in town: Fish King. Actually, FK is in the town next door, in Glendale, but who cares? The verdict is unanimous – FK is the best fish market in all of SoCal.

Going to FK is like a pilgrimage to worship at the shrine of fabulous fish and impeccable, friendly, swift service. Just looking at the displays makes one drool. Add to that the fact that there is no smell (fresh fish does not smell “fishy”), and you know that this is the real thing: A place where the owners know all about, and love everything, fish.

The Galley is the little restaurant attached to the market. It is a no-frills eatery, squeaky clean, the food comes in Styrofoam containers (that’s the only beef I have with the place, for environmental reasons) and is absolutely out of this world good. Go there, test the Halibut for starters and be reeled in – hook, line and sinker.

Romantic Encounter

I like swans, especially Mute Swans (Cygnus olor / Höckerschwan). They are majestic, beautiful birds, elegant and fascinating when gliding over the water. They are also quite aggressive when tending their young.

I remember my last encounter with swans: I used to run at a lake near my house; after my cool down I always sat on a little wooden deck and fed the ducks with stale bread. On that particular day four cygnets joined the flock of ducks to get their share of the feast. However, it did not take long for the parent birds to come gliding along to take a good look at what was happening there. Apparently they wanted to make sure that I clearly understood that no hanky-panky was allowed with their offspring – one of the swans started to hiss and get into attack mode. I got the message and retreated. An attacking swan is not something very high on my list of “Things One Really, Really has to Experience in Life.”

So I was very pleased that my next swan sighting was of this pretty bird – fast asleep.

The romantic surroundings were quite fitting.

A Peek Into Paradise Or A Menace To Mankind?

In Spring Casa Beach in La Jolla looks like this:

About 150 to 200 harbor seals use the beach as a resting place and rookery for their pups:

Once the pups are old enough to behave like proper teenagers (frolicking in the sea and having fun all day long), the older seals spend their afternoons, most likely, more like this:

Anything for a good rest before Spring comes around again and one has all flippers full raising the next generation.

All this can be watched from just a short distance away. Casa Beach is a small paradise for nature lovers big and small.

Unfortunately, this paradise is threatened. For years and years a battle has been going on between those who love this rare opportunity to catch a glimpse into the life of the harbor seals and those who consider them a menace, a pest, water polluters and squatters on a beach belonging to the humans. A short video clip can be watched here.

The latest news is that the City of San Diego and environmentalists have been overruled in their desire to keep Casa Beach for the seals. Now the case is supposed to go to Sacramento for a final decision.

I sincerely hope the seals will be allowed to stay. A 100 yard long stretch of beach is such a small price to pay for a year-round insight into the lives of these unique animals.

Which Is Your Favorite Library?

I like libraries. University libraries even more. My new favorite is the Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego.

Designed by William L. Pereira and finished in 1970, it sits on top of its hill as if this hill had been waiting forever and ever just for this particular building to be erected there.

To me the Geisel Library is an ultramodern take on the design of places like Himeji Castle in Japan.

Or maybe it just grew out of the ground, because in spite of all those expanses of glass and the rigid angles the structure looks organic, belonging there. It is quite easy to imagine how it slowly emerged from the ground, growing, growing to its full height, looking faintly otherworldly and yet fully of the here and now.

And then somebody came along and cleaned all those glass panes.