Spring Bouquets

Your Boulevardier noticed this lovely array of faux freesias with colorful ribbons outside Dried & Tied in Castro Village the other day. The arrangements did a lovely job of heralding the arrival of springtime.



Our springlike weather in Castro Valley is turning wintery again, for a short time. Tonight's rain is not unwelcome, as one has grown tired of watering here at Chez Boulevardier.

Apologies, as ever, for the dearth of posts. Family duties have called. A few walks have been made, and a few stories collected; finding time to share them becomes the challenge. Thank you for your patience.

Bump And Grind

Your Boulevardier met an old friend -- actually, his junior high music teacher -- for coffee at Peet's early this afternoon. The gentleman wanted advice on a new gadget he had purchased, and Your Boulevardier was happy for the excuse to get together and chat -- about musical instruments, electronics, mutual friends, travels, and the joys and complications of life.

Not long before we arrived, a car just outside of Peet's had missed its parking spot and plowed into Marshall Steel Cleaners. Your Boulevardier does not know the circumstances or if anyone was hurt.




This incident isn't the only automotive excitement in town. Last night after 9:00 p.m., as Your Boulevardier was driving home from a rehearsal, he noticed the CHP directing traffic at the intersection of Santa Maria Avenue and Castro Valley Boulevard. It turns out a vehicle had crashed into the control box that's planted in the lawn near the bus stop between Rigatoni's and the corner. (Truth be told, Your Boulevardier had never noticed the box before.) This rendered the traffic lights nonoperational.

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.

More Window Vandalism

Your Boulevardier notes that a large window at Eden Bicycles in Castro Village was boarded up yesterday afternoon. Asking in the shop about the circumstances, he learned that nothing was taken from the store; the vandals simply broke the window and ran. So the spree continues, but has now moved off the Boulevard.

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.

Happy Holidays

Your Boulevardier notes with pleasure that Castro Village is making good use of an empty storefront to create a sitting room for Santa. What's more, it has marked the space with a very attractive sign.


In the not-so-distant past, of course, the big guy sat in a chair in the window of the Village Toy Shop. When that store closed and Eden Bicycles took over its place, the bike shop kindly (and, Your Boulevardier thinks, wisely) ceded some of its sales floor to the man from the North Pole.

This new situation makes sense. It puts another storefront to use while not taking away valuable space from merchants. Still, his presence in his own quarters will draw the young ones and their parents to the Village.

Happy holidays, all. Let the season commence!

Crowing about Rowells

Don, the fiberglass horse that stands guard outside of Rowell's Saddlery, has a new friend -- a large-headed scarecrow. Your Boulevardier does not know if the smiling new fellow is a temporary or permanent addition to the shop's publicity team, but we're certain Don enjoys the companionship on chilly days like today.



("Don," by the way, is Your Boulevardier's name for the horse; the handle was bestowed in honor of Don Guillermo Castro, who once owned the valley in which our town now resides. Yes, Your Boulevardier is aware that "Don" is, in this case, a title, not a name. Work with me, people.)

Pince and Needles

Sauntering around Castro Village yesterday afternoon, Your Boulevardier noticed this odd piece of burlwood in the window of Adela's Yarns.



It brings to mind the pincers of an insect, the horns of a bull, or something equally dramatic. Does anyone know the story of this lump of lumber?

Changing the Locs

As noted earlier on these pages, half of the former storefront occupied by Vella's Locker Room will become a bike shop. (There's now a business card taped in the window as well; Your Boulevardier forgot to make note of the shop name.) The shopping center management company, in preparation for its new tenant, has removed the signage over that part of the center.


This move, to Your Boulevardier, makes no sense. If one is going to bring in the equipment and personnel to remove part of the sign, remove all of it. One cannot imagine a scenario in which the shop occupying the left half of the building is going to want any part of the old signage.

Halloween on the Green

The Golden Tee (some of us cannot bring ourselves to say "GolfLand") has put out a display of straw bales, cornstalks, and scarecrows for Halloween. The photo does not do the display justice. It's a wonderful thing to have a mini-golf course in town.

On Four-Day Workweeks

On this first day of a four-day workweek, it seems an appropriate time to call attention to a small typewritten sign spotted recently by Your Boulevardier on the door of Merle Norman Cosmetics on Castro Valley Boulevard. It reads:

ATTENTION .... PLEASE !!!!!

WE TRY TO CONSERVE ENERGY BY:
(1) KEEPING THE LIGHTS TURNED DOWN
(2) BEING CLOSED ONE EXTRA DAY

IF EVERYONE THAT COULD WORK A FOUR DAY WEEK
WOULD SAVE MILLIONS $$$$$$$

ONE LESS CAR ON THE ROAD JUST ONE DAY A WEEK
AGAIN MILLIONS $$$$$ WOULD BE SAVED ....
LESS FOSSIL FUEL BEING BURNED ... MUCH BETTER
FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT ......

ALL WE ASK IS THAT YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR CHOICES
TO MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD-------INSTEAD OF
COMPLAINING THAT IT'S NOT CONVENIENT!

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY OR SATURDAY

To which Your Boulevardier can only respond: "Amen."

Of Mice and Gyros (and Miscellany)

The former Daughtrey's Department Store (which is also a former billiards hall, and is annually the Spirit Party Supply) is now a store specializing in Disney merchandise. Your Boulevardier walked past (alas, not into) the store this evening and noticed that the parking lot on the side was full. Was there not a similar store at Southland not so long ago? One wonders if, like the aforementioned Spirit store, the Disney store is a transient use of the building. Its signs are just banners hung from the exterior walls, lending to the air of temporariness. The building has been in limbo for some time, though in 2007 there was some talk of refurbishment.

It's also noted that the former Carry Outee is now fenced off and has a banner announcing that Toula's Gyros is coming to the site. Your Boulevardier misses the falafel that were served at Haim's Cafe (and also that served at Kampus Korner at CSUEB), and hopes this new place will offer this Middle Eastern dish.

Two doors down, the Daughtrey's children's store has reappeared; it closed in Castro Village but has reappeared in one of the tiny business cottages on the north side of the Boulevard between Worley's and El Rancho STEAK House.

Also of note in the dining world: the former Tam's Kitchen has been re-branded as King Kong. One imagines that the portion sizes are colossal.

Your Boulevardier does not know what to make of all of these comings and goings. The amount of churn definitely seems to be on the upswing. It's a strange and difficult time to start a business, though some say this is the best time to do so because of the leverage available with suppliers, landlords, and employees.

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.