Delicious Irony

Your Boulevardier walked past the McDonald's construction site on Castro Valley's Fast Food Island today. The forms for the foundation are up. And a pile of Wendy's wrappers and cups could be seen on the lot. Construction workers can be big eaters.

(More posts are coming, and Your Boulevardier hopes soon. However, the holidays have interfered with the writing and reporting, if not the exploring. One other bit of news to be shared at this time: the Trusty BoulevarDog had her stitches out on December 26 and is well on the mend.)

Don Dons His Gay Apparel

A few days back, Your Boulevardier noted that Don, the fiberglass horse in front of Rowell's Saddlery, was looking quite festive in a quilted red satin jacket. But as of Monday of this week, he had doffed the coat and switched to a bridle of red garland. Your Boulevardier suspects this is because the ongoing rain would damage the coat and make it unsalable.



Readers, remember that you can always click on a photo for a larger view.

No Wonder Your Boulevardier is So Forgetful

Your Boulevardier was very excited when he read the first sentence of a recent neuroscience story out of the University of Michigan; could it be that his everyday activity was actually mental, as well as physical, exercise? The article began:

"Go outside: It helps improve your focus -- even when it's cold out."

But the excitement was short-lived. It turns out one must walk in nature in order to bolster brainpower. Walking on city streets was specifically tested:

Berman [the scientist who conducted the research] decided to test that theory by sending study participants on walking routes around Ann Arbor. Participants walked on an urban route down main streets and also on a route in U-M's Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, taking in nature. When participants walked in the Arboretum, they improved their short-term memory by 20 percent, but showed no improvements after walking down city streets.

Indeed, simply admiring pictures of nature proved beneficial.

The researchers also tested the same theory by having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature, memory and attention scores improved by about 20 percent, but not when viewing the urban pictures.

One can only sigh. The walks will continue in spite of this scientific rebuke.

White Christmas on Redwood Road

Your Boulevardier happened to be on the scene shortly after some pranksters soaped a fountain on Redwood Road this afternoon. He supposes that this is vandalism, but it was a good deal of fun to look at -- especially as winds picked up and the soap bubbles drifted in tiny clouds across the busy road.

Super Bowls

Your Boulevardier visited the Wells Fargo Bank on Castro Valley Boulevard today. The banking was uneventful, but other events in the environs were more interesting.

First, at Vella's Locker Room, an autograph-signing event was underway. Your Boulevardier, not being a football fan, did not recognize the athletes offering their John Hancocks, but he did make note of both Raider Santa and Raider Elvis in attendance.

Second, a visit was made to the Adobe Art Center and the A.B. Morris Gallery for HARD's pottery and art sale. Your Boulevardier bought a lovely green-and-blue bowl thrown and glazed by Steve Olson for Mere de Boulevardier's Christmas gift. Many lovely items were for sale, all handmade by local craftspeople, and the prices were very good. A visit is recommended, but a little Internet research reveals that this sale is only occurring today (Saturday, December 13, 2008).

Third, on the way from Vella to Morris, Your Boulevardier inspected progress on the renovation of the parkland in front of the Adobe Art Center, adjacent to Castro Valley Elementary School. The skate park (by design, on the quarter of the property farthest from the art studios), bocce courts, play structure, and picnic areas are well underway. Entry gates that echo the adobe walls of the art center are in strategic places around the property. Your Boulevardier believes the renovated park will be a welcome addition to the downtown environs.

TBD Recovering Nicely

The Trusty BoulevarDog saw Dr. Scuchman today, and the good doctor seemed pleased with her progress. Both of her incisions were inspected (she also had a cyst removed from her ankle) and looked good. The pathology report on her spleen tumor was read, and the news was not encouraging; however, the prognosis in cases like hers varies widely from dog to dog, so no conclusions can be drawn. All who know her agree that she's an otherwise healthy dog with a great attitude, and Your Boulevardier believes that will serve her well whether she lives six more months, or six more years.

Below is a picture of her resting in the sun at Chez Boulevardier this afternoon. (A wise move, since the weatherman predicts that sunshine will be in short supply for the next week or so.) Her blue-bandaged leg is visible, but her abdominal incision is not.

Night Passages

In the summer, beginning a stroll downtown at 6:30 p.m. is nothing special. But as the calendar nears the Winter Solstice, and when a cold front approaches from the north, it can take on the feel of an expedition.

Such was the case when Your Boulevardier decided to walk into town this evening. He bundled up -- a long-sleeved thermal shirt, a light-but-warm windproof jacket, gloves, and a beret -- and sallied forth.

The cold seemed to slow things down. Cars were scarce and generally polite at intersections. Christmas lights twinkled gently. Most of the few persons who were out on foot were bundled up with hats and coats -- and many were walking their dogs. (Your Boulevardier will be walking his into town again soon; she's well on the mend.) Even the fiberglass horse that stands guard outside of Rowell's Saddlery was wearing a coat -- in his case, a festive quilted satin number. (Your Boulevardier calls the cheval immobile "Don," after Don Castro. He does not believe that anyone else does.)

The parking lot in Castro Village was full, yet the few businesses that were open seemed, for the most part, to be empty. (It seems generally that the retailers in Castro Village don't stay open in the evenings, but the restaurants do.) It was noted that two establishments were busy: Don Jose's was bustling with full tables, and almost all lanes in Castro Village Bowl were in use. Green-and-red holiday messages were displayed on the screens over the alleys.

After a brief stop at the grocery for unsalted butter, Your Boulevardier returned home to bake some Madeleines using this recipe. The cookies taste good but are unsightly. More experimentation is needed.

Postscript to Wudas: a photo of the recuperating BoulevarDog -- also known now as the Spleenless Wonder -- has been snapped and will be posted soon. She is not exposing the five-inch scar on her underbelly in the photo, but perhaps that's for the best.

The Marble-Clad Marvel

Your Boulevardier loves to look at buildings. He has traveled to some great cities in his day, and viewed some fine architecture. The structures in humble Castro Valley may not measure up to those in, say, Chicago or Paris or New York or Florence, but many of them have a certain charm. Your Boulevardier admires a sense of scale, a whiff of whimsy, a hint of history, a dash of detail in a building.

One Castro Valley building that many people pass but precious few probably notice is the marble-clad structure that houses Fura Bodyworks. It was, if memory serves, a lawyer's office for quite some time; today, piercings and tattoos are given -- apparently with some skill. Your Boulevardier sports neither piercings nor tattoos, and he has never set foot in the place. However, this does not detract from his respect for the building itself. (And he does acknowledge the entrepreneurial zeal and local loyalty of Fura's proprietor, Mel Speed.)

But back to the building. In a sense, it is a modern skyscraper writ small. Tiny, even. Vertical stripes of black-and-green marble, alternating with dark windows suspended in bright steel frames, forms a pleasing rhythm not unlike that evoked by Mies van der Rohe in his best mid-20th-century creations.

Not-so-close examination shows that this building is, underneath its stone cladding, simply a construction of cinderblocks. (Everyone who has driven through the Jack-in-the-Box drive-through knows this, in spite of efforts to disguise the fact with greenery.) But the facade the building presents to the street is all style, and even a bit of modernist glamour.

At Home with the BoulevarDog

The Trusty BoulevarDog came home on Monday afternoon and has been resting comfortably and sleeping quite deeply all day. One thinks that the time at Boulevard Pet Hospital, while healing, has not been restful for her; she is generally not a fan of other dogs, but it is hard to get away from them at a veterinary office. One suspects she did not get much rest that was not created or induced through chemical means.

She has taken two brief walks on our street to relieve herself and has been eating heartily. For now, she is forbidden from climbing stairs (Chez Boulevardier has many) so we are restricting our activities to one floor of the home. The restriction from climbing is due to the five-inch incision on her belly; it needs to heal up before strain is put on it, not to mention the many ligated blood vessels inside her abdomen that formerly were attached to her spleen.

She received a visit from mon petit chou today; the two were very happy to see one another. And, though Your Boulevardier is a bit anxious about the fact, the chien sans rate will spend a few hours at home alone this evening while Your Boulevardier visits Bijou in Hayward. A report will follow.

Monday Morning Meanderings

Basking in his newfound fame, Your Boulevardier took to the streets this morning sans chien. (She will come home this afternoon.) The usual haunts were visited: Peet's, where a skeleton crew scrambled to keep up with orders; and the Post Office, where a line of impatient patrons stretched out the door at 9:30 a.m. and parking had begun to get, shall we say, creative.

Around town, a few bits of weekend randomness were noticed. The corner of the curved awning at XOTek Windows (at the intersection of Castro Valley Boulevard at Nunes Avenue) had, apparently, been struck by a tall vehicle; stucco lay in chunks on the sidewalk below, and scrapes were visible in the fascia. Across the street, the large concrete refuse container by the Blockbuster Video bus stop had been pushed from its moorings to a random location. (For what it is worth, the container on Redwood Road in front of Safeway, near to Peet's, was shoved from its appointed spot months ago and has never been relocated.)

Your Boulevardier walked up Castro Valley Boulevard, then turned north on Lake Chabot Road a piece. He noticed that the former professional office buildings across from Eden Hospital are being deconstructed from the inside out. While Sazio's Italian Restaurant, Sushi-Ya, and Theadora's Salon seem to cling to existence (though Yelp describes Sushi-Ya as closed), the establishments surrounding them are vacant and stripped to the studs, while the exterior remains largely unaffected. (Gutted like a fish, a sushi-eater might say.) A peek along the culvert behind the buildings finds that the structures' innards have, for now, been tossed out back; from the street, the parking lot looks clean and tidy. This demolition strategy confuses Your Boulevardier, since the debris will need to be hauled back through the buildings before it can be trucked away -- unless, of course, the buildings themselves will be demolished, in which case heavy equipment can be used to scoop up everything. But if that's the case, why bother with the interior demolition in the first place? Why not do as was done at McDonald's -- simply crush the buildings and pick the valuables out of the rubble?

Update on the Trusty BoulevarDog

The Trusty BoulevarDog was visited at Boulevard Pet Hospital on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday she did not look well at all; her legs were weak and her entire abdomen was wrapped in a bandage. Two of her legs had been shaved to receive IVs. A third leg was bandaged because, while she was anesthetized, Dr. Schuchman removed a cyst from it. Still, she seemed glad to receive visitors (Mon Petit Chou was along, providing much-needed emotional support); she drank some water and ate a bite of food.

Today was, quite happily, another story. She was visited shortly before noon and was out of the abdominal bandage. She was walking with much more vigor; her eyes were brighter and her tail was wagging. A very brief, very slow walk on Castro Valley Boulevard was taken; she tired rapidly but made the trek. She also received visitors from out of state, as Frère de Boulevardier and his family were in town. She made it clear that she did not want to spend another night in the kennel of Boulevard Pet Hospital, but she was overruled.

However, the Trusty BoulevarDog will return to Maison Boulevardier tomorrow -- minus a lot of blood, the leg cyst, one spleen and the baseball-sized tumor that had grown on it. Whether the tumor was benign or malignant is not yet known -- a biopsy is in the works -- but we do know that the growth is out and for now the chien cher is on the mend.

Your Boulevardier is happy and relieved, and exceptionally grateful for the kind wishes of his readers.

Trusty BoulevarDog Takes Ill

On our regular morning short walk today, the Trusty BoulevarDog became suddenly ill. She slowed down to the canine equivalent of a crawl, and looked quite tired and unhappy. She made it home (very slowly) and went immediately to rest, foregoing breakfast. She is now in the care of the good Dr. Schuchman at Boulevard Pet Hospital. As the situation becomes clearer, Your Boulevardier will post updates.

Yet Another Tree Photo

This fiery Liquidambar was captured on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 in Carlos Bee Park on Grove Way.

The Power of the Pole

Your Boulevardier, accompanied by the Trust BoulevarDog, trekked into downtown Castro Valley this afternoon. (The reason for this journey will be revealed soon.) Upon arriving at the intersection of Castro Valley Boulevard and San Miguel Street, he noticed telltale piles of white ashes in several places on the street. It did not require much more investigation to notice that a PG&E crew was hard at work on San Miguel, just north of The Boulevard and across the street from Blockbuster Video.

According to a flagman who was directing traffic (while conversing on his Bluetooth headset), a car had taken out the first telephone pole on the street last night. The crew was replacing the pole; a crane and several trucks' worth of electricians were on the job.

It's never good to be in a serious collision, but if one must be in a crash, it is perhaps less awful to do so within 50 yards of a fire station, as this person had done. Emergency response would be swift, no matter the hour. Your Boulevardier hopes that nobody was hurt in the collision, but it takes considerable force to damage a telephone pole so he is not optimistic. If readers have more details, please provide them in the comments.

More Fall Color

The Trusty BoulevarDog seemed eager for a longer walk this morning, and Your Boulevardier was more than happy to oblige. Rudy's was visited, along with the bank and the post office and Peet's. The sun was out, the air was crisp and cool, and our town was quiet and peaceful. Two photos of fall color were captured; the first depicts an ornamental pear near the CHP Office, and the second shows some Japanese Maples and a birch tree along the odd little chunk of Lake Chabot Road south of I-580. (Apologies that Your Boulevardier does not have time at this moment to search out links for the specific trees.)