Living Near the Mountains
March 4, 2005 – 4:54 pmI found many things on my visit to Caltech two years ago that I thought I would really enjoy if I lived in Pasadena. One of those things happens to be the San Gabriel Mountains a few miles north of campus. I took the picture below from the patio of my apartment late this afternoon after the rains subsided.
The mountains look especially pretty right after a rain, for a couple of reasons. The rain tends to wash most of the crud out of the air that the mountains happen to trap, and the clouds tend to hang pretty low, below the tips of the mountains, which I think looks very cool.
I remember being driven around Pasadena (and later driving a car I had rented) when I first visited Caltech, seeing the mountains and thinking how lucky I was that I might have a chance to live somewhere that had that kind of scenery. You don’t see that kind of stuff all too often in Texas; especially from the parts of Texas I’ve spent my time. I can safely say after a year and a half of living here, the mountains have lost none of their appeal to me.
4 Responses to “Living Near the Mountains”
Yay for yet another pretty picture! I love the mountains too.
By UALboy on Mar 4, 2005 at 10:08 pm
You should put up another picture of the mountains on a hazy summer day just so people can see the difference. I, for one, was completely shocked the first time I noticed the disappearing reappearing trick the mountains pull around here.
I guess it just makes you appreciate them all the more on a nice day.
By MDA on Mar 5, 2005 at 1:20 pm
You’re right; that would be an interesting comparison. It’s always a little bit of a bummer when someone visits on a day when the mountains are hidden by the haze. They’re so beautiful when they’re visible, but without the rain, odds are better than not that the view won’t be its clearest.
The first time I noticed the disappearing-reappearing trick was while I was driving when I first got out here. The mountains are an easy flag for which way north is, and when they’re not visible and you’re not somewhere you can navigate easily, it can be pretty disconcerting.
By jjk on Mar 6, 2005 at 10:10 pm
“Which way is north?”
*raspy, disjointed voice*: “There is no north.*
By MDA on Mar 8, 2005 at 12:06 am