The Valley Line: Hoping for July gloom

Hey weatherman, keep those foggy June Gloom mornings coming — I love them. And you can even stretch them on into July. That would be very nice.

These past few cool mornings turned out to be impetus for me to wage war on the paper clutter in my office. It was a major assault on my part that took me a couple of days to beat the scores of errant papers into submission.

Piece by piece I evaluated what could be thrown away, what needed a new file folder and what was destined for the guillotine (the shredder) and made into fine confetti.

Now I have a neat and tidy office and NO paper stacks. Every time I walk down the hall I peek in and feel such satisfaction as I glimpse into this showcase of an office!

This was a busy weekend, with two major events near our community that were attended by LCF residents — the opening of the Pasadena POPS summer series and the L.A. Zoo’s “Beastly Ball.”

I know that regular ticket holders of the POPS (scores of them LCF residents) were sad to leave its longtime home at Descanso Gardens, but opening night in the symphony’s new venue on the lawn next to the Rose Bowl was quite grand.

The orchestra’s varied program, conducted by Rachael Worby, ended with a patriotic song by John Phillip Sousa, “Stars and Stripes Forever,” punctuated with a fabulous display of fireworks that lit up the night sky.

Before the evening’s grand finale, music lovers who attended last Saturday’s concert were treated to a feast of musical favorites from the Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” Tchaikovsky ballets “Swan Lake” and The Nutcracker,” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” Bohemian Masquerades.

The amazing, world-famous performers of Cirque de la Symphonie truly did amaze and dazzle concert-goers with their magical display of thrilling acrobatics and breathtaking theatrics set to the exquisite music of the POPS. It was a perfect marriage of Cirque and Symphony that evening.

Coming up for the POPS on July 17 with “I Love New York” program with singer Doug La Brecque and Lisa Vroman and Donale Brinegar Singers.

JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Cañada social scene. She can be reached at jnvalleysun@aol.com.