Lucy Stern

Dreary day today. Rain coming. Days getting shorter. But! I got the longest morning walk in over six weeks thanks to the splint and bandage being off. Checked many favorite "mail" spots.
I'm thinking of sunnier days like the one last Summer at Lucy Stern Center. It's got a very nice brick patio, benches for tired people..... and nice old mission style buildings. The concrete planter behind me in the picture used to be a fountain.
Lucy was part of the Levi Strauss family who used lots of her money to build a place for local community theater groups and Boy Scouts. She loved theater. The City of Palo Alto didn't want to let her have design control even though she was going to pay for the whole project in the depths of the Great Depression. So, her architect asked the City Police Chief if building started would the police stop it. "No!" So, it got built the way she wanted and is beloved by many.
West Bay Opera does full productions there.
When she was in grammar school, Alice played a lilac fairy with a monologue at the childrens theater there. She remembers having to carry a plastic bunch of lilacs. Turned her off lilacs for years and years. Her next time inside for theater there was to see a performance of Threepenny Opera last year. Too bad mere "companion" so-called non-working dogs aren't allowed inside. But, really, we prefer the sun anyway.