Myco Mania

The wood chip-covered vacant lot behind Peet's Coffee on Redwood Road -- home of the annual Boy Scout Christmas Tree Lot -- is today sporting hundreds and hundreds of mushrooms. Your Boulevardier assumes that the spores were somehow carried by the mulch that is used to keep down the weeds on the lot, and that our copious winter rains have encouraged the fungi to grow and propagate.



The bloom -- if that's the appropriate word for a mushrooming spurt of mushroom growth -- was better a few days ago. The plants (again, if that's the right word) were fuller and lighter in color. Unfortunately, Your Boulevardier was not able to snap a photo at the time. Now, the mushrooms are starting to collapse and return to the earth. It will be interesting to note if they reappear next year, and in what quantity. (And, if a mycologist is among the readership, it would be interesting to know what variety of mushrooms these are.)

A Boulevardier First

A FOB sent photos from his iPhone showing concrete being poured for the westbound I-580 offramp to Redwood Road. Your Boulevardier's favorite shot is reproduced here, within 10 minutes of the picture being taken.

Goings and Comings and Goings

Your Boulevardier notes that Worthington Photography has vacated its spot in the building it shared with the Ice Creamery on Castro Valley Boulevard, and moved a block west to the corner of Chester Street. In its place, signs indicate that the I Love Stained Glass Shoppe will take up residence; it's not known (by Your Boulevardier, that is) whether their shop(pe) on Grand Avenue in Hayward will close, of if this will be an extension of that business. And while Your Boulevardier is a fan of I Love Stained Glass Shoppe -- he gave the late Madame Boulevardier's stained glass tools and materials to the shop when she died -- he is not completely certain that stained glass and ice cream are a good mix. It remains to be seen.

Around the corner on Redwood Road, the Hollywood Video/Game Crazy store is closing. Two sign-waving barkers were noted earlier today on Redwood Road, attempting to draw shoppers to the going out of business sale. Your Boulevardier has never been a patron, but is saddened to see any business close.

Considering the difficult times, Your Boulevardier has been surprised that more Castro Valley businesses -- and, in particular, its restaurants -- have not failed or consolidated in the last two years. It's hoped that, as the economy improves, conditions will pick up for everyone.

Twilight Walks

The rains continue to drench Castro Valley, but on two successive late afternoons Your Boulevardier has been able to get out and walk the town. On Monday night he ventured onto Castro Valley Boulevard, first passing through residential neighborhoods as area residents rolled their trash carts to the curb. This evening he braved the post-work grocery store rush at the Lucky supermarket. It's a wonderful time to walk, as the town transitions from the workday world to the home and hearth. Lights glow in windows, but shades are not yet drawn; neighbors are chatting as they haul groceries or check mail; yes, people are eager to get home, but the pace seems gentler, more restful, than at mid-day.

A walker sees that a certain amount of post-storm detritus litters the sidewalks and clogs the gutters. But from what little he saw, Your Boulevardier believes that the town has come through the weeklong-plus deluge in good shape.

There are exceptions, of course. The interchange construction at Redwood Road and I-580 is shut down -- and flooded, on the east side. (A FOB who works for the firm doing the project says that, currently, just 1% of the company’s heavy equipment is in active use statewide.) Just up the road, the demolition of the Center Street offramp from I-580 has paused as well, due perhaps to the creation of a sizeable temporary lakelet next to the freeway.

Your Boulevardier has not checked on how the rains are affecting the other big construction project in town, the building of a new Eden Hospital. However, he was impressed by the seven-phase construction plan recently posted on the hospital’s website by civil engineer Jeff Moore of the Castro Valley-based firm Greenwood & Moore. Reading it is recommended.

And frankly, Your Boulevardier was surprised -- and very pleased -- to read that a local firm is so intimately involved in the hospital project. And he is surprised that Sutter Health has not made a bigger deal out of the fact. Your Boulevardier has walked past the Greenwood & Moore offices on Castro Valley Boulevard hundreds of times and never knew what went on up there. Now the veil is lifted, however slightly. (Not that the firm is mysterious; rather, Your Boulevardier does not have need of civil engineering in his daily life, and has precious little knowledge of what a civil engineer does.)

Continuing our survey of storm effects, Your Boulevardier has not traveled to Lake Chabot to see the precipitation’s impact on the town’s main waterway. If readers have reports, please consider adding them to the comments. (One can do so anonymously.)

But back to the rain’s effects on local business establishments. The enterprises Your Boulevardier visited did not have telltale buckets catching roof leaks. Restaurants seemed fairly busy; bowlers and barflies were practicing their arts; hot coffee was being dispensed with caffeinated vigor; young people danced and kicked and chopped while their parents waited, sometimes impatiently, for after-school classes to finish. Pete’s Hardware seemed to do a brisk business in tarps, galoshes, and other rain-related retail items. Perhaps the hair-and-nail salons were a bit slow, but they always seem to have empty chairs when Your Boulevardier peeks through their windows.

Skies are forecast to be cloudy but dry for a couple of days, with a chance of rain returning on Friday. (Your Boulevardier will again be hosting the Subcompact Loaner this coming weekend, so walking weather is hoped for.) One should not put away the slicker just yet, but we should all attempt to enjoy the respite from the damp while we can. Perhaps another evening walk is called for.

Good Architectural News

Your Boulevardier received a letter today from his bank, Wells Fargo. The company has decided to consolidate its Castro Valley options into the lovely building at the corner of Castro Valley Boulevard and Redwood Road -- the building that was once World Savings, and which now is Wachovia. (Wells Fargo owns Wachovia.)

This was the very outcome Your Boulevardier hoped for back in October of 2008 when Wells Fargo acquired the collapsing Wachovia. One does not harbor any illusions that the banking powers paid any heed to, or even would deign to acknowledge, this blog. But satisfaction in the resolution is nonetheless derived.

This may not be the best of news for the other merchants in the strip mall (on Castro Valley Boulevard between Anita and San Miguel Streets) where Wells Fargo currently makes its home. The Vella's Locker Room has decamped for San Leandro (taking with it half of its sign), and many Blockbuster Video stores in the Bay Area have already closed. The Asian restaurants, dollar stores, and cleaners have had a tough go of things in that shopping center. Your Boulevardier does not patronize the other shops, so he cannot attest to their health. But certainly losing the walk-in traffic of a busy bank branch cannot be good news.

One can only hope that the converse is true -- that the center surrounding the new location will perk up. Although Your Boulevardier has not inspected it carefully in some time, he believes it to be mostly empty. Time will tell.

Curbing Your Enthusiasm

Some government money must have broken loose somewhere, because there's a rash of sidewalk ramp installations going on around Castro Valley.

Your Boulevardier noticed the pylons and diggers on Redwood Road north of Castro Valley Boulevard last week. Today, he found several demolitions on The Boulevard. The two photos below were taken at Stanton and Strobridge respectively.

Certainly when the projects are complete the sidewalks and curb cuts will be better for pedestrians -- particularly those in wheelchairs or parents pushing strollers. But for the time being, the work makes getting around quite difficult. The construction at Stanton is particularly disruptive to pedestrians because there is a) no warning that the work is coming; and b) no way around it except to walk in traffic. This at an intersection where motorists rarely bother to look for pedestrians in the first place.


The demolition at Strobridge is curious because the crews have removed only the middle part of an already-existing ramp. Your Boulevardier assumes this is to put down the sort of bumpy rubber surface that many such ramps have.

The strangest ramp installations in Castro Valley occur where there are no sidewalks. (Longtime readers may recall postings in which Your Boulevardier griped about the mysterious pride some Castro Valleyans have in their lack of sidewalks; to some, it's a contributor to our "rural feel." To Yours Truly, lack of sidewalks only contributes to muddy shoes in the winter and impolite, pedestrian-hostile parking year-round.) Your Boulevardier knows he has seen some of these unattached ramps, but has not cataloged them for publication here. Perhaps he will do so in the near future.

Post-Holiday Blues ... and Reds

On his walk today Your Boulevardier noticed several broken windows on Castro Valley Boulevard. Specifically, a window at Crush Comics was boarded up, and a window and two glass doors at Direct Sales were secured with plywood or tape and awaiting repair. It's a shame to think that holiday revels in Castro Valley got so out of hand that vandalism was the result, but it so appears. Do readers have any more information about these happenings?

By way of contrast, nature was having none of the human-caused havoc. The morning skies were clear and cold, and the few remaining leaves and berries on deciduous plants were calling for attention, as evidenced by these fruits appearing on a shrub on Redwood Road.



The clear winter weather just begs for long, objective-free walking, in the opinion of Yours Truly. It (the weather, that is) is not supposed to last; off-and-on rain is predicted for the rest of the week. Your Boulevardier has professional work to catch up on, and so, in a way, he hopes the inclement weather comes; it will force him to stay at his desk and complete the projects before the New Year arrives.

Coupe de Grace

Your Boulevardier is an habitue of the Village Barber Shop, but he acknowledges that there are many other places in the City of Lite to get one's hair done. One, on Redwood Road near Trader Joe's, sports this charming hand-painted sign.



The stark blue-black-orange color scheme, while unusual, works well for the sign, in Your Boulevardier's opinion. And the images themselves have an endearing retro style; perhaps they are an homage to Roy Lichtenstein. The upper haircut might be a portrait of movie idol George Chakiris, while the lower image could be a subtle appeal to the Mad Men crowd.

The building itself is, if Your Boulevardier recalls correctly, the former office of a Castro Valley real estate agent named Jem Angus. He was Your Boulevardier's first employer, paying this garçon a half-cent each to hang his advertising flyers on Castro Valley doorknobs. Perhaps that is when the love of walking our neighborhoods was first cultivated.

Red Friday

Your Boulevardier was up early on Friday morning for a yoga class, and later in the day walked the City of Lite. Things were generally quiet on both occasions, perhaps to the displeasure of retailers. There was no waiting to see Santa in Castro Village at around 1:00 p.m., but the line for coffee at Peet's practically stretched out the door.

Although the Man in Red was under-occupied, the Trees in Red -- these spotted in the parking lot behind Round Table Pizza on Redwood Road -- were busy working their magic.



An hour or two later in the day, a pocket storm blew through bringing high winds, torrential rain, and thunder, all followed by a double rainbow. Quite the weather episode.

Steaming into the Holidays

Your Boulevardier has a small surplus of scraps to post, but is squeezed for time due to other commitments. How can it be that he holidays are already pressing upon us? But it seems that they are. Anyway, a few items are on tap and should appear in the coming days.

Meanwhile, he will report that, while he loves the Castro Valley outlet of Peet's Coffee & Tea, the company really needs to power-wash the area under their outdoor tables. And truly, it would be most neighborly if they would wash the sidewalk all the way to their garbage cans, and around the corner for a few yards on Redwood Road. The rains are coming (we all hope), but they're not going to wash away the sticky stains on the concrete.

Ramping Up

Progress continues on the Highway 580 / Redwood Road interchange. For a long time the work seemed largely confined to the south side of the freeway, but in the last few weeks crews have taken out trees, built a retaining wall, and carved off a portion of the Spencer Mortuary parking lot for the westbound offramp. (Click the photo for a larger view.)



The pace of the project is to be commended -- especially when compared with the interchange modifications at Strobridge Avenue. Your Boulevardier commented on the problems with this project way back in January; only recently has the vacant lot been cleaned up, but the trash along the fence under the freeway remains, and lanes -- both on Strobridge and on the eastbound onramp -- continue to be inexplicably blocked off. (Your Boulevardier does not refer to the closing of Strobridge at Gary Drive, which he approves of in spite of the fact that it makes access to his own neighborhood more difficult.)

Back to the Redwood Road interchange, a number of questions remain in Your Boulevardier's mind, regarding both the roads and the sidewalks. He will post these questions in the near future. Meanwhile, as a pedestrian, he hopes the walk/don't walk signs and buttons will be connected soon.

Halloween Book Passage

Your Boulevardier was very, very pleased to participate in this morning's Great Book Pass. The event, for the uninitiated, was the ceremonial transition fro the old to the new: 300 books were handed, one by one, through a chain of volunteers from the old Castro Valley Library on Redwood Road to the spectacular new structure on Norbridge Avenue. One overheard conversation said that 1,600 volunteers were participating in the event.

Clad in his beret and accompanied by Mon Petit Chou, Your Boulevardier reported at 8:00 a.m. to a table in front of Dara Chan's State Farm office at the corner of Redwood Road and Jamison Way. (At least a dozen tables were placed at intervals along the entire 0.7 mile route.) Waiver forms were signed and free t-shirts were received.



The event was scheduled to begin at 8:30, so an thirty minutes had to be burned. First, the old library was visited, and the books to be passed were viewed. It was learned that the books to be passed were not from the library's circulating collection, but instead part of the Friends of the Library's collection of books, intended to be sold (for just $2 apiece) to support the library. They ranged from biographies to cookbooks to fiction to children's books, and carried green frontispieces commemorating their participation in the event.



Around 8:30 a.m., our spot was returned to, and a little after 8:30 the first book arrived. It was Arcadia Publishing's Castro Valley history book, wrapped in a green and gold ribbon. It was handed down the train of volunteers, who ranged in age from zero (babes in arms were spotted) to senior citizens. Scouting groups and church communities seemed particularly well-represented.


All participants had two things in common that Your Boulevardier could detect: impressive civic pride, and a sense of fun and enthusiasm for the morning's adventure. In spite of the foggy weather, the mood was warm and happy. As cars passed, horns were honked and waves were proffered.

It was wondered how the books would cross the streets; surely the library would not put its volunteers in the way of traffic. Indeed, book carts (festooned with balloons and streamers) were placed at each intersection, on the "upstream" side of the book flow; when the books in a cart reached a critical mass (as determined by the volunteers handling the carts), they were wheeled across the street and unloaded into the stream of people. Then the carts were returned to the upstream side of the street to be refilled.

The exception to this system was at the intersection of Redwood Road with Castro Valley Boulevard; here, two carts were used, one on either side of the street. The walk/don't walk signs were obeyed, and the full and empty carts were swapped at the middle of the intersection.



After about a half-hour of passing, the last book arrived, greeted with an energetic hurrah. Appropriately enough, it was entitled "Curtain." All participant wanted to touch it, and many had their photos taken with it.

After the final book had passed, people from upstream in the line began to filter by in the direction of the new library; a person who seemed to know what she was talking about announced that additional volunteers were needed at the tail end of the book-bucket-brigade, so Mon Petit Chou and Your Boulevardier high-tailed it to Norbridge Avenue and re-joined the chain. Many of the books that that had been handled once earlier were passed once again.



Once the final book passed us (a second time), way was made across the footbridge to the library parking lot, where luminaries including Castro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Jim Negri and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley milled about, greeting the public. Cookies, fruit, candy, and water were available, and a row of large ceremonial scissors awaited ribbon cutting. The mood was festive and proud.



The actual passing of books seemed to have happened much more quickly than the planners had envisioned, because an hour's wait was announced before the library would actually be opened. Your Boulevardier and Mon Petit Chou did not wait for the official opening, but instead made our way back to our car, satisfied that we had participated in an event that was truly historic and important in the life of Castro Valley.

Don't Pass On This Opportunity

Your Boulevardier and Mon Petit Chou are signed up to participate this Saturday at the Castro Valley Library's Great Book Pass. Are you?

The question now is whether costumes should be worn. Perhaps just berets.

Worthy Cause in Castro Valley

Your Boulevardier received the following email from two different people, and commenter Greenridge posted it below. The originator is L'avocat de Boulevardier Steven Dimick, who has given permission to republish it here. (Some slight edits have been made, clearly marked.)

Your Boulevardier went by Lee's Donuts this morning and purchased a very nice cinnamon roll. His waistline will not let him do so daily, but he will be making a contribution and encourages readers who are able to do the same.

Friends,

You have probably read that the owner of Lee's Donuts on the corner of Grove Way and Redwood Road was brutally pistol whipped about a couple of weeks ago during an early morning robbery. I'd like to tell you a little more about him.

Sam Nouv came to the U.S. from Cambodia and, in 1987, started working at Lee's Donuts. Before long, he was leasing the business from its owner and, in 1990, bought the business. He and his wife, Lori, go to work every day at 3:30 a.m., open up at 4:00 a.m. and don't close until 6:00 p.m. -- every day, seven days a week. They do close on a very few holidays, but in 19 years have never had a vacation and the most time they have ever had off at any one time is two days.

Our grandparents or great-grandparents worked like this when they first came to America, but no native-born American that I know would do so.

In addition to working these brutal hours, they are raising three sons, a 21-year-old currently at Chabot College, a 15-year-old at Castro Valley High School and a 10-year-old at Independent Elementary.

And Sam and Lori are two of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet.

Sam has been back to work -- briefly -- for the last couple of days, but the burden of keeping the shop open for the last two weeks has fallen on Lori, the kids and a few friends.

I asked Lori if they had adequate medical insurance and she said they did, but their deductible and co-pay were killing them, when nearly all of their income goes for basic living expenses. Lori said their share of the medical expenses was $15,000. Sam later told me it might not be that high, but is at least $7,000 (Kaiser told them they don't have a final figure yet.)

Some community members are [planning] a series of fundraisers for the family. Ken Martin is planning a charity bocce ball tournament and other ideas that have been kicked around include a car wash. If you'd like to participate, [contact Steve Dimick via the link above].

In the meantime, if any of you can see your way to making a donation, however small, the family can sure use it. $100 would be great, but $5 or $10 will be equally appreciated. (I merely slipped them some cash.) Please look in your wallets for old, unused bills or consider writing a check to "Sam Nouv." You can deliver your donations to my office (20880 Redwood Rd., Castro Valley) or directly to the Nouv family at their store.

You could also pass this story on to your neighbors or other friends in Castro Valley. They just might see fit to give you a donation to pass on, or to visit Lee's and slip a few dollars into Lori's hand. And maybe they'll pass the story along even further.

Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to give. Despite our occasional differences, Castro Valley is a real community.

Steve Dimick

CV Crime Scene

On his morning walk, Your Boulevardier noticed an Alameda County Sheriff's cruiser and a crime scene truck in the strip mall kittycorner to Trader Joe's, at the corner of Grove Way and Redwood Road. The part of the shopping center with the nail salon and pizza parlor was cordoned off with crime scene tape, and a few anxious-looking folks hovered about. No other details are available at this time.

Motorcycles Converge at Shell Station

Your Boulevardier was driving down Redwood Road on Sunday morning around 11:30 a.m. when he noticed that several dozen motorcyclists and their bikes had converged at the Shell Station at the corner of Castro Valley Boulevard. One wonders if this was an organized ride. The gathering looked much too large to be a spontaneous thing.

The Tenacity of Life

In this season of weeds, plants find some remarkable, unexpected places to take root. Your Boulevardier spotted these shoots under the eaves in the strip mall which houses Peet's Coffee in Castro Valley on Redwood Road. (The pictured vegetation grows close to the Payless Shoe Store.)



The seeds for these two different varieties of plant, it would seem, were carried to this unlikely spot by birds who have built nests under the eaves. It's not certain how the seeds received water to germinate, but clearly they did. Now the young plants are reaching for light and producing blossoms.

It's a wonderful image of spring, rebirth, and the tenacity of life on our fragile earth.

Animal Signs

Your Boulevardier noticed on Sunday that the Castro Valley Companion Animal Hospital on Redwood Road has installed a wonderful new sign. The fellow who installed the sign was engaged in conversation this past Sunday and he told the story.

The sign was created by a sculptor named Doug Stuart who lives in Napa County. The design was agreed upon long ago, and in lieu of the finished three-dimensional sign the design sketch was blown up and installed as a flat sign. Of late the paint on that former sign has been failing; Your Boulevardier photographed it for an item that never ran:



Now that the finished sign is in place, a planter will be built around its base and the thermometer will be calibrated. (On Sunday, the instrument on the south (sunny) side read 90 degrees, while that on the shady side read 70 degrees; the latter was more accurate.) The handsome clock itself is battery powered and automatically corrects itself for daylight savings time, leap seconds, and other temporal anomalies. (Your Boulevardier used this opportunity to learn the difference between Atomic Clocks and Radio Clocks; the clock in this sign is a radio clock.)

Echo of the Arts

Your Boulevardier passed the under-construction McDonald's on a walk this blustery morning. Construction is moving apace, though the structure looks nothing like what one might think a McDonald's should look like. In fact, from one angle the new structure looked vaguely familiar.


A walk down the Boulevard and up Redwood Road confirmed (somewhat) Your Boulevardier's suspicion: the gentle arc over the McDonald's facade is not unlike that over the Castro Valley Center for the Arts.

It must actually be said that the McDonald's arc is more stylish. It's gently asymmetrical and airy, while that of the Center for the Arts is plain and heavy. Still, the resemblance is notable.


On the rest of his walk, Your Boulevardier noted a number of other recent buildings with similar arcs, including the remodeled Safeway and the new Taco Bell, both of which are on Redwood Road. (Those buildings' arcs are much less prominent in the designs than the previous two mentioned above.) And, of course, the Wachovia (née World Savings) building is a favorite, but much older, example.

Mythbuster Spotted in Castro Valley

Your Boulevardier spotted Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman driving a white Dodge Caliber on Redwood Road a few minutes after 8:00 a.m. this morning. Although the glimpse was fleeting, the trademark beret, steel-framed glasses, and walrus mustache were clearly evident. A passenger was in the car as well, but his or her identity could not be discerned. One can only hope it was Kari Byron.

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.

Triple-Take on Redwood Road

Your Boulevardier was driving (yes, alas, in a car) down Redwood Road the other day when the farthest-left window at Kay's Bridal Boutique caught his eye. Kay's is known, of course, for the lavish displays of formal gowns in its windows; it's a splash of elegance in a stretch of road that's desperately in need of same. But on this day, something in the window looked terribly wrong; it appeared that two elegant gowns were accompanied by a third outfit made of burlap and raffia.

Upon closer inspection, to the great relief of Your Boulevardier, the third "gown" was actually a seasonal scarecrow. But his size and position gave the impression, just for a moment, of a fantastic fashion faux pas being foisted upon Castro Valley's society set.

Postscript: Upon relating this mistaken identification to mon petit chou, she laughed and asked if Your Boulevardier had seen the episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy and Ethel, on vacation in Paris, are duped by Ricky and Fred into wearing awful creations, thinking that they are designer gowns. (Episode 147.) He had not, but he correctly guessed the story twist that would follow: that the comical couture would become the toast of the town.