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People, Plants, and Water: Caring for the Future Together
Posted by Candace Seu on Monday, October 28, 2019
When snowpack melts off the San Gabriel Mountains, and whenever it rains in Altadena and Pasadena, the water seeps down into the ground to refill the Raymond Basin, the giant underground aquifer that provides 40% of Pasadena’s water.
The water that falls on impermeable street surfaces is swept to the ocean, lost to us forever; but the water that falls on soil remain in our ecosystem and eventually percolate down into our reservoir. It’s a gift that nourishes life, if we’re prepared to receive it.
Our walk started with a simple idea: we wanted to highlight the Pasadena Public Health Department and Pasadena Water and Power’s new hydration station at La Pintoresca Park, and connect that with the water-wise plantings at nearby Washington Elementary and Washington Park. Both locations showcase the...
Tags: Beautiful Bioswales, green streets, Pasadena Public Health, Pasadena Water and Power, Walktober, why we work
Glenarm Power Plant: Seeing Things Anew
Posted by Blair Miller, Jeff Hall, and Candace Seu on Saturday, October 26, 2019
Electric power is invisible to us - it’s one of the things we take for granted in a modern world. When we plug the lamp into the wall socket, it simply turns on. What was once magical has become mundane. This tour inspires people to notice and appreciate the production of this essential force – the electricity that powers our lives – in a completely new way.
In much the same way, we hope that Walktober allows people to think about walking – as a social activity, as a way to get and stay healthy, as a mode of transportation, and as an opportunity to learn and explore – with new eyes.
The center of the facility is a combined...
Tags: Glenarm Power Plant, Pasadena Water and Power, walktober, why we work
Reflections on Why We Walktober
Posted by Candace S on Wednesday, October 23, 2019
I had a brilliant friend during graduate school who worked on a constantly shifting schedule - frequent 18-hour math benders followed by 10 hours of sleep. What I found most striking about this schedule was his habit of taking long, meandering, solitary walks during those late nights of work. He said those helped him to figure things out.
My friend’s walks are the polar opposite of the ones we planned for Walktober 2019: each with a carefully planned route and destination. And yet – perhaps because we’re all volunteers who were improvising along the way – Walktober as a whole felt like my friend’s journeys through the night.
We’d originally envisioned Pasadena’s Walktober to be a celebration of walking. We simply wanted to build a sense of pride around walking as a deeply human...
Tags: Walktober, why we work
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