Calliopes

Sally and I have season passes to Descanso Gardens and we go there quite often to take a peaceful stroll in the gardens. When we got there the normal parking lot was full and we were ushered into the overflow parking. When we got out of the car and started walking towards the entrance we turned to each other and said "What is that God-awful noise?" It was as if Coney Island from the 1920s had invaded the gardens. Our initial impression was, well, once we're inside, we're safe. Wrong! Once we got inside our ears were once again assaulted with the harsh, strident sounds of yet another Calliope which, like Cerberos, seemed to be guarding the front gate to the gardens. Sally immediately felt the stirrings of a migraine. Sally and I covered our ears and ran past the calliope and into the gardens where an entire herd of calliopes issued their cacophonous mating calls. I wondered "How can this be?" I thought that calliopes were extinct, slowly dying off as amusement park owners discovered that rock and rap could be played louder yet provided a hypnotic beat to place customers in a trance. It was as if some mad scientist had some how preserved the calliope DNA and had waited until cloning techniques and improved enough to unleash and entire battalion of these monsters onto our once quite gardens. No matter where Sally and I tried to run a calliope lurked around every corner.

It turned out that this was some calliope convention that happened to be at the gardens that day. Some of the calliopes were antiques, some built by their owners and some new purchases. The owners were more than happy to tell everyone about their monsters, I mean machines, detailing where it came from and how it worked. Sally was ready to give up and go home, but over the years I've learned how to enjoy a bad time. Quite often the thing that I remember most about a trip is some awful meal I had or an incredibly hideous piece of art in a museum. Now I try to remember to take pictures to prove to my friends that things were as awful has I've described them. You can click on the following to links to hear the calliopes. Turn up the volume as high as it will go so you can get the actual effect.

Calliope 1

Calliope 2

Willy the Goat

Sally and I walked to the far back of the gardens to try to get away from the noise of the calliopes. The back of the gardens is filled with native vegetation so it isn't has colorful or as popular as the rest of the gardens. There we came across a pen with Willy the Goat. Sally wondered why there was a goat there and I, correctly, surmised that the goat was there to eat the chaparral which had grown high enough to be a fire hazard. Actually, there were 250 goats in the back part of the gardens happily trimming back the brush. Willy was in his pen seeking donations to help pay for the goats. While the goats are less expensive that people they still cost $250 a month per goat. I thought that the shepherd had a pretty good business going. 250 goats at $250 a month is $750,000 a year and he doesn't even have to feed the goats. I think I know what I'm going to do once my job in software is off-shored.

Flowers

The main reason for going the gardens is to look at the flowers. The roses were just coming into bloom and we didn't visit a number of places due to the noise from the calliopes. We still managed to see a number of pretty flowers and we look forward to going back when the park is not being assaulted by horrific noises. Hopefully, the Gardens will never discover hip hop.