Drawn to the Rose Parade

Every year, preparations for the Tournament of Roses turn a quiet Pasadena neighborhood into a village of activity. Paul Rogers observes in words and drawings.

As year’s end nears, the turn-of-the-last-century architecture that still stands along South Orange Grove Boulevard, above, becomes a mere backdrop for the annual spectacle that is the Tournament of Roses Parade.

A look at a dwarfed complex at Del Rosa Drive, right, captures the essential feel, if not the actual height, once the scaffolding moves in.

Green Street, left, becomes a parking lot for the swarm of international media that converge in the city.

A TV tower and A-list seats, below left, mark ground zero: Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards.

For a fortunate few, living along the boulevard — where floats, bands and horses queue overnight — provides a front-row seat to the action, below right.

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how beutiful