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.

The Nesting Instinct

With New Year's Eve falling on a Thursday, it's likely that many Castro Valleyans -- at least those with means -- have blown the burg and are settled in elsewhere for what amounts to a four-day weekend. Others are staying close to home, of course. Some of us -- Your Boulevardier falls into this third category -- find ourselves flitting about like overwintering birds between leafless trees, rather than settling into one spot for an extended period. While cozying into a nest may be appealing, circumstances prevent it.



The inviting small bird nest seen here is in one of the Chinese Pistache trees on the Castro Valley Boulevard side of the Safeway parking lot. For now it is vacant, but one can imagine that with the return of warmer weather -- and some leaf cover -- it will be reoccupied by some LBB. (Confused? See the third definition.) The aerie is much smaller than the photo seems to indicate; nothing is in the picture to provide viewers with a sense of scale. For the record, it's no more than 2 inches wide. That's the Sunflower restaurant in the background.

Sighting this nest the other day served as a reminder that now is a good time for bird aficionados to check trees for nests. Big nests high in deciduous trees are easy to spot in winter, and smaller nests near eye level can be mentally tagged for future checking when spring returns.

However readers are spending the first few days of 2010 -- whether nesting or flying about -- Your Boulevardier wishes you a happy new year.

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.

No Exotic Bugs at Chez Boulevardier

Your Boulevardier noted earlier a pleasant encounter with a representative of the Pest Detection & Eradication division of the Alameda County Community Development Agency's Agriculture / Weights and Measures Department. (Now there's a mouthful.)

Yesterday a small pink slip was found under the doormat at Chez Boulevardier. The traps have been removed, and "no exotic insect pests were found at this time."

While Your Boulevardier is generally a fan of the exotic, he realizes that exotic insect pests do not merit for his favor. He is glad that none were found, and appreciates the professionalism and enthusiasm of the county worker who set the traps.

And The Heavens Opened

Your Boulevardier went for a long walk this morning, and was caught mostly unprepared for the light rain that fell. He did capture this scene, which -- if one were religiously inclined -- would likely be quite inspiring. It's hard to see in this photo, but the rainbow terminates right at the three crosses of Neighborhood Church.



Upon returning home he checked the rain gauge at Chez Boulevardier. After Tuesday's deluge, the rainfall total -- that is, from Tuesday evening through today -- was just 0.07".

Bugging Out in Castro Valley

Some days, Your Boulevardier goes out looking for items. And some days, the items come to Your Boulevardier.

The latter happened today. An 8:30 a.m. knock at the door revealed a uniformed man from the Alameda County Community Development Agency Agriculture/Weights and Measures Department. The friendly, talkative fellow asked to hang three traps on trees on the grounds of Chez Boulevardier. The traps are meant to capture Mediterranean Fruit Flies, Oriental Fruit Flies, and Melon Fruit Flies, according to the sheet the fellow left behind, though he also spoke about the Light Brown Apple Moth.

The young man would have talked for hours about his insect prey if Your Boulevardier would have let him. His enthusiasm for his work, and his generally friendly demeanor, were charming.

The traps will be checked regularly over the next few weeks. It's unclear whether Your Boulevardier will learn about the results of the trapping, but if he does he will post the information here.

Boom Town

Your Boulevardier sat on his back deck for a while this morning, watching the thunderstorm over the hills east of Castro Valley. The storm is great free entertainment, though one suspects it makes the organizers of the Fall Festival a little nervous.

Addendum: The Subcompact Loaner is my houseguest this weekend, and on our morning walk we saw a white opossum. A bit of Googling reveals that "An albino variation is not an uncommon sight" in opossums.

Still, between the weird weather and the unusual wildlife encounter, it's feeling like a strange day already.

Suburban Foraging

Alas, due to professional commitments, Your Boulevardier has not been able to take advantage of the visiting Subcompact Loaner for extended dog walks. However, they took a brief stroll this morning and checked the blackberry bramble on Strobridge Avenue, east of 580 and below Strobridge School. The berries are just becoming ripe!

Your Boulevardier knows of at least one other place in town where a prolific fruit tree on public (or abandoned) property shares its bounty with all comers. Do readers know of others? (Perhaps you're unwilling to divulge; Your Boulevardier understands.)

Photogenic Lake Chabot

Lake Chabot is, as Castro Valleyans know, a remarkable resource very close to town. Your Boulevardier enjoys kayaking on the lake - he's seen one of the lake's elusive bald eagles - and can recall taking Red Cross canoeing lessons there as a youth. The lake's cirumnavigating trails have provided many hours of jogging and hiking fun, picnickers mob the place on sunny days, and fisherpeople flock to its waters.

It's also a wonderfully photogenic spot, and local photographer (and Friend of Your Boulevardier) Terry Vanderheiden will lead a photo walk at the lake on Saturday, July 18 starting at 7:30 a.m. The event is free, but one must pre-register at the World Wide Photo Walk website.

Readers who attend and take pictures are invited to send a link to Your Boulevardier, so that others can see your work.

The Apartment Formerly Known As The Pines

Your Boulevardier noticed that the sole pine tree in front of The Pines Apartments on Wisteria Street is dead. Time for a name change?

Bridge to Somewhere

The Castro Valley Library continues to hurtle (not "hurdle," sorry) headlong toward completion. A few weeks ago, a pedestrian bridge across Castro Valley Creek was installed; Your Boulevardier recently took a look.

The bed of the bridge was made from a railroad flatcar, and according to news reports its fanciful rail was designed by a pair of San Francisco artists. The railing will reportedly continue as a fence along the creek,



At first glance, the position of the bridge did not make sense to Your Boulevardier. After all, couldn't pedestrians simply keep walking on Norbridge Avenue to get to the library? Then he remembered that the library's entrance is to the rear of the building -- that is, the side away from Norbridge -- and there isn't a driveway on the west side of the building. So the bridge will let walkers from BART or Redwood Road avoid traversing all the way around the building to get to the doors.

(Remember, readers can always click on a photo for a larger view.)

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.

Wisteria Season is On

Your Boulevardier noticed many fine wisteria vines in bloom on his walk earlier this morning. He did not walk Wisteria Street, but found large, attractive clumps of lavender flowers on Stanton Avenue and Somerset Avenue. This cluster is on the fence behind Lee's Nails, on Castro Valley Boulevard between Bank of the West and RyNck Auto Repair.



Also at bloom this time of year: potato vines, which look wonderful and give off a powerfully lovely scent.

Such are the things one sees, and smells, when one gets out of the car and walks our streets.

Budding Spring

Your Boulevardier walked to the Hayward Japanese Garden (which, one believes, is technically in Castro Valley) this morning. The garden was transformed in an instant late last year, when the giant pine tree that dominated it was toppled in a storm.

It's a surprisingly different place now without the massive tree -- Your Boulevardier used to call it "The World's Largest Bonsai" -- but the garden is still an island of serenity in a sometimes-chaotic world. And because the neighboring senior center is at present closed for renovations, parking is easy and plentiful (should one not care to walk to the garden).

At this time of year the tightly pruned maples are starting to leaf out. The colors and shapes are dramatic and different than any other time of the year. While the good weather is with us, Your Boulevardier recommends a visit. (Alas, our canine amis are not welcome, which at present, sadly, is not an issue for Your Boulevardier.)

If one can't go, a lovely collection of photographs by one James Phillips can be found here.

CV in Verse

Your Boulevardier does not believe that much serious poetry is written featuring Castro Valley, but he learned about a poem entitled "Cull Canyon" by Rebecca Guyon, a bay area poet now living in France. Locals will recognize the place and the events, and perhaps the emotions. The poem is published at the online poetry journal Strange Machine. Please follow the link to read it.

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.

The Color of Autumn

One of the gripes one hears from transplants to California -- and to the state's coastal areas, in particular -- is that they miss the seasons. (The flipside of that argument comes from Mere de Boulevardier, who swore when she left the midwest over half a century ago that she would never gaze upon snow again -- and, it is believed, has made good on that promise.)

It is admitted that there are no websites to announce the peak moment at which fall color will appear in Castro Valley, but appear it does nonetheless. And, on the day before Thanksgiving, the leaves and sidewalks along Castro Valley Boulevard were quite lovely. The trees pictured below, by the way, are Chinese Pistaches (please forgive the "Texas Superstar" link, but Your Boulevardier liked the photos). Other trees that provide splendid autumn displays in the mild-winter Bay Area include liquidambar and ginkgo biloba. (Spelling fixed; a tip of the beret to The Pedant.)



Readers are invited to call out other impressive autumn leaves around town in the comments.

Chabot Creek Contamination?

Castro Valley residents who live along Chabot Creek in the Baywood District noticed today that the creek is cloudy. Your Boulevardier can confirm this at the spot where the creek emerges on the south side of Highway 580 near the Strobridge Avenue pedestrian overpass. (On the north side of the freeway the creek is in a concrete ditch and water clarity is more difficult to discern.)

Authorities fromthe East Bay Municipal Utility District and the Alameda County Public Works Agency have been contacted. When or if a source or cause is determined, Your Boulevardier will report it here.

Lake Chabot Boat Fees

An article in today's Daily Review reports that Lake Chabot will start charging fees for zebra mussel inspection on personal boats launched in the lake. The fees will also be charged at Del Valle and Contra Loma. Per the article:

The fees at all 3 recreation areas will be $6 for boats brought in on trailers and $3 for boats fastened to car tops. A vehicle bringing in two kayaks will be charged $3.

The inspection program has been in effect for a while at Lake Chabot. Your Boulevardier's limited experience has been that the inspectors are hard to find, and one can wait quite a while at the launch dock waiting for them to arrive. It's hoped that the fee will be coupled with more efficient procedures.

Welcome Visitors

Your Boulevardier received a flattering email that he will reproduce here in its entirety.

To Our Boulevardier,

I recently discovered your blog entirely by chance through a Google search (interestingly, a Google search for "Castro Valley falafel" hits your July 2007 posting). I love your blog -- thank you for writing it!!

I thought of you and your blog when I heard an interesting inverview on the "Living on Earth" radio program on public radio. Will Self talks about the allure of exploring a city on foot and discovering things one ordinarily wouldn't experience in a car or other means -- much like you do in your blog.

Brief quote:
"So there's this marvelous sense that one gets of being cut off from the mass of humanity in this very, very simple, very self-directed way. You don't need any equipment. You don't need any fancy accessories. You can just get out of your chair and do it and you're instantly exploring in that way. You're finding out new things about your environment."

If you're interested, you can listen to the 9-minute interview or read the transcript (here).

Thanks, and keep up the good work!
Jim

You have our gratitude, Jim. Your Boulevardier welcomes such praise, and is happy to hear about -- and post links to -- interesting resources on the Internet for those interested in walking about.

Alas, not enough walking about has been done by Your Boulevardier of late. Work pressures have, unfortunately, coincided with the current spate of fine spring weather. The trees are blossoming (the apricot at Chez Boulevardier is loaded and lovely), to the bane of those with allergies but to the delight of those of us who are visually oriented. One wishes he had time to spend nosing about. Soon, it is hoped.

Nesting Instinct

It's an ideal time of year to get out of doors and look up. The deciduous trees in town are leafless, making any nests they host (vacant, for the most part) much more visible. Your Boulevardier noted dozens of nests, ranging from tiny hummingbird cups to large aeries for big birds unknown, all around Castro Valley on a walk this morning. When the trees leaf out these nests will disappear into the foliage, but spotting them now can give viewers a clue as to where to look for birds come spring and summer.

In a related note, on a kayak outing to Lake Chabot yesterday Your Boulevardier noted one heron staking out a residence high in the rookery tree near the lake's northeast corner. This is always a good birdwatching show later on in the spring and summer. Subsequent reports will be posted.

Birdland in Castro Valley?

Your Boulevardier has been chained to his desk -- fortunately these days, not literally -- but today he did venture forth briefly to walk with the Trusty BoulevarDog to the post office and Trader Joe's.

The Chinese Pistache trees along the Boulevard near Redwood Road are about to burst into fall color. Their seed pods are already ripening to a torrid fuschia, and on Tuesday afternoon around dusk the trees were loaded with tiny singing birds, eating their fill.