BUENA VISTA AVE. BUS STOP, DUARTE, CA

I wanted to get a picture of this bus stop because my mom would rely on the local Duarte shuttle to maintain her independence from her busy sons and daughters.  One day when I still owned my 1986 Toyota pick-up truck, I drove past this stop and saw my mother waiting for the shuttle.  But I didn't stop.  I didn't stop because I saw how she was enjoying her conversation with the other women waiting for the shuttle.  I wanted to stop.  I thought to stop, but when I saw her enjoying herself so much, having friends and cultivating a good vibe that I didn't want to interrupt that joy.  In fact, I drove right to her house.  Fifteen minutes later, she stepped through the garage door with a couple bags of groceries from the Ralphs, from the Big Lots, and other nearby stores.  Shopping was her favorite activity.  Independence was her ethic.  And shopping was when she felt the freest.  Stores gave her choices.

MOM'S COOKING
Mom would love to cook her boys breakfast.  Her breakfast would consist of a short stack of pancakes and bacon or sausage, always with a pot of fresh-brewed coffee.  She enjoyed mixing the batter, its sound, and the viscosity of whipping.  There may not be a more comforting feeling than to see one's mother standing in the kitchen, herself warmed by the heat of the pan, preparing breakfast on your behalf.  All was right.  All was love.  She would time the cooking of the pancakes by boiling a pan of water in which to place the syrup and heat it so that it would pour thinly over the pancakes.  She always purchased Mrs. Buttersworth syrup.  Though we knew that the ingredients were probably not the best, I felt that her hand transformed everything she touched.  She'd place the bottle of syrup in the boiling water and let it thin.  Taking it out, she'd place the bottle on a saucer, next to the plate of butter from which we'd slab generously.  As I see my mother cooking in the kitchen I can't help but think of her cooking in Aunt Gertrude's kitchen on Clarkson in Denver, where she was domesticated right out of high school.

MEMORIES OF MOM

I miss Mom.  I miss seeing her in the kitchen cooking her famous mushroom chicken and spaghetti with meat sauce and her signature chili.  I think that that was John Larkin's favorite.  Mom would fix a pot of chili with the knowledge that John and Charlen were stopping over.  John loved Mom's chili!  He'd scoop himself a bowl and add Fritos Corn Chips, cheese, and onions, souping it up, adding I believe hot sauce as well.  That's one memory I miss of Mom--working in the kitchen.

My second memory is watching Mom ironing our clothes.  Her ironing board was up at all times.  She'd lay out the shirt and spray water over the garment to maximize the effects of her ironing efforts.  I remember thinking to myself when I first saw her do this, "Wow!  That was smart."  And it was.  Mom was a smart woman, a smart soul.

On Sunday, February 12, 2012, I wrote:
Mom would ask occasionally how my apartment was coming along.  I told her fine.  I could tell that she hoped that my place was comfortable and clean, which it was.  I told her one time that I was thinking about purchasing a leather chair.  That idea filled her with images of a man sitting in a deep and comfortable leather chair next to a floor lamp with a pipe and newspaper.  With that one image, she built up in her head a man of independent means, enjoying a quiet life at home surrounded by books, classical music, and good food.  She couldn't have been more right.  My mom loved furniture.  I remember going with her one year to Sears in the Hastings Ranch of Pasadena to pick out a living room set.  This was back in the '70s when ranch style furniture was big.  Mom loved wood too.  In fact, the last pieces of furniture that she purchased were those big wood dressers in her room.  And then she absolutely loved that wood China cabinet in the dining room.  She took great pride in her furniture.

Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mom also loved gardening, or should I say, she loved organizing her garden.  One of the plants that she loved to have both in her front yard and in her backyard was the agapanthus.

A few times I think I heard her refer to them as the "Lily of the Nile."  The back story on that title is funny.  But she loved these plants.  She had them lined against the fence in the backyard and around a tree in the front yard next to the mailbox.

In the front yard, at the northeast corner of the property was a section that we shared with Frank and Brenda Flannigan.  We used to park our metal trash cans in the street for pick-up.  But on the lawn in that section were planted two crape myrtle trees.  Linda across the street liked them so much that she went ahead and planted one near her mailbox, perhaps to match the trees that Mom had out in her front yard.

Also in the front yard, Mom had planted a pine tree.  What kind of pine tree?  I believe that it was a Khasi Pine Tree that is native to the Philippines.

In the backyard, Mom had a variety of plants and trees planted.  One small tree that she hadn't even planted but whose branches sprawled into our yard was Frank and Brenda Flannigan's Bottlebrush Tree, which was to me one of the strangest trees I'd ever known.  The tree did attract a lot of hummingbirds for some reason.

Mom also had a White Angel's Trumpet tree or Brugmansia that produced scores of flowers in each bloom.

Mom also had a row of Calla Lillies planted along the back fence.  They were beautiful when in bloom, stalwart stems with beautiful white cups.  Sitting at the dining room table, sipping coffee, eating breakfast, or reading the newspaper, they were always nice to look out at.  Evocative of blessed days somehow.

Mom enjoyed our fairly productive but gnarled apricot tree.  Its growth was deformed it seemed.  And family pruners splintered the poor tree, leaving it to look like some ancient thing.  For some reason, I always wanted to touch the tree's sap.

Its early bloom was always beautiful to me.

One of my favorite trees in the backyard was the plum tree with its dark wood and white spring blossoms.

I loved the different shades of red on the plums. 

Then of course perhaps my personal favorite was the Chinese Elm tree, which is ubiquitous in the southwest.  Mom didn't like it too much because of all of the tiny leaves on the ground that had to be raked.  But I loved the shade that the tree provided.  I loved its large, scaly trunk.  It was one of my favorite trees.  Its branches always grew into a uniform umbrella.  Pictured second below is the bark of the Chinese Elm that Mom hated raking.

Though Dad appreciated the fruit trees more than anyone because he could feed his kids with them, Mom didn't like the mess of leaves or the overripened and unpicked fruit that fell to the ground.  But she did enjoy the fruit.  At one point, we did have in our backyard a hearty and productive peach tree, and Mom loved a sun-ripened peach more than any other fruit.

We even had a banana tree.  My dad must have liked its exotic island look and reminded him of his stay on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.  The one we did plant in our backyard never produced a single banana.  Not one. But its purple flowers were quite beautiful.

Though I enjoyed the Elm Tree's thick, scaly trunk, its magnificent form into an expansive umbrella, perhaps the tree I loved more than any other primarily for its beauty is the beautiful magnolia Grandiflora tree that Mom planted at the southeast corner of the backyard.  

MOM & DAD, THE PRE-BABY YEARS, 1939-1942

Mom and Dad on a rock in a river at Estes Park, Colorado, probably 1939 or 1940. It's amazing to think how these 2 individuals made everybody else in the family more loveable.

DAD'S RETIREMENT PARTY, JULY 15, 1976

Judge William Hogoboom, Chuck Walgenbach, and Judge Lester Olson.  Dad was 62 years old here: he looks terrific!

L to R: Chuck Walgenbach, Bill Conroy, Gerry Conroy, and Sally Walgenbach

Dad was so well liked in the courthouse that local LA Times would write articles on his charm, his wit, and humor.  Here's what one writer said about him:

AROUND TOWN--That sly one, Charles Walgenbach, clerk in Department 8 of Superior Court, asks if you know that Washington and Crenshaw meet at the Civic Center. He means reporters Chester Washington and Jimmy Crenshaw, who cover the court beat . . . . The jukebox in a bar on N. Cahuenga Blvd., John Benham reports, lists a selection titled "When You Were a Tulip." Ah, the old songs were best! ... A woman who was painfully injured in an automobile accident was taken to a hospital. Her young daughter, reporting her condition to a friend, malapropped, "She's still under seduction."

I sent the above LA Times article on Dad to Charlen.  She read the article and replied to me on September 26, 2011 at 9am, 

Oh yeah, Dad was quite a personality! Loved writing! Miss him very much!

I sent the same article to Sally, who replied, 

The comment "When you Were  a Tulip," . . . could it have been, "When you Wore a Tulip"?  Sounds like a Daddy song!  Thanks Mike...love it! 

She also sent this YouTube video of the song.  Honestly, that is a weak version of the song.  This one by Teresa Brewer captures Dad's era.

I placed Dad's commercial art work here as a holding place until I could learn more about them and then place them in their own and proper blog post.  

The newspaper clippings announcing Dad's retirement do not do him justice.  ". . . long-time clerk . . ." and ". . . pleasant helpfulness . . .' do not begin to describe his energy and charm, reasons why so many of Hollywood's stars and Los Angeles' sports legends preferred his efficiency and grace.

Dad's place of work--
 

POSTCARD SERRA RETREAT: FROM DAD TO CHARLEN, SEPTEMBER 17, 1951

The Serra Retreat in Malibu where Dad attended a religious retreat in 1951.  This is a postcard of the Serra Retreat in Malibu that Dad sent to Charlen back in 1951.  We were lucky to have a father who enjoyed writing, putting dates on documents, and commemorating events.  For without this, what evidence would we have that he attended such a retreat (though we do have photos of the event) and that being so close to God was so important to our dad.

This is Dad's postcard to Charlen in 1951.  Charlen was 8.  It reads "Darling Daughter, This is where Daddy spent his time with God.  Love, Daddy."  Note the year and the price of the stamp and the address.

MOM IN DENVER, CO, BEFORE 1940

I have mixed feelings about this picture.  I love it because it is a youthful picture of my mom.  I liked it so much that I had it framed.  I then asked Mom if I could hang it up in her room.  She gave me permission but added in rueful tones that she didn't like the picture because she didn't like the dress.  She didn't say why she didn't like the dress.  Maybe she didn't like the fit or design.  I don't know.  I loved the fact that she was happy here.  I loved seeing pictures of her happy.

The picture is taken at my dad's Aunt Gertrude's house on Clark Street in Denver.  My mom came to work for Aunt Gertrude, my dad's mom's sister, right out of high school which ended at the 8th grade.  I don't know why I am thinking of it now, but since I am thinking of it now let me state that my mom was born in Bisbee, Arizona.

Bisbee, 1916  

Apparently, there was a deportation move by the Bisbee government.  The wages were probably rising and people heard about it and convened there.  When the population grew too high, people had to go.  What an awful thing to be hauled up onto a train and shipped out of town.