October Ride Around Pomona: No Pumpkin Spice

And like that [snap of fingers] summer comes to an end. The clouds came in [did we see the sun at all today?] and were followed by a few arm warmers and some lighter jackets, for autumns' first Ride Around Pomona. Now, I didn't smell any pumpkin spice along the route, not even at mi cafecito, but in keeping with the seasonal theme of things, the ride did make a round of some of Pomona's cemeteries and other moderately spooky / morbid sites such as the infamous "cat house." These are place that were visited during last October's RAP as well. 

Now I am not sure what the original intent of the RAP was when it was started several years ago. I am guessing that, in part, it was creating an opportunity to get outside, meet some fellow residents, discover some things around town that were, perhaps, not widely known - all things that contribute to a sense of investment in place and community. It sounds like a good "mission" to me, and one that the RAP continues to foster. 

"But wait, didn't you just say the ride visited the same places it did last year? That does not sound like discovering new things to me" [Roll of eyes]. True, but then there was also the, presumed, old Palomares family cemetery - a nondescript field bordered by Towne Avenue and Pomona High School, the only thing distinguishing it is a small monument and a tubular steel fence with some stone columns. Back in the days of the Spanish ranchos deceased family members would have been buried away from the house - in this case, the Palomares Adobe is a five to ten minute walk away - for a variety of reasons. So there, we did "discover" something new [sticking out tongue and saying nyah]. I doubt any of the many hundreds of people driving by know the reason for this empty field, no one in the group did, although one person who attended the high school had always heard rumors that the school had been built on a graveyard. Sometimes there is some truth behind our modern urban legends.

Remember, the RAP rolls the first Saturday of each month.