Light show

The sunset over San Bernardino and Rialto was beautiful on Thursday night.

By John Murphy

Thursday night I was feeling lazy and watching a crime show about the Nightstalker (Richard Ramirez) who terrorized Southern California in the 1980s.

But when the show morphed into Part 2 I couldn’t stand it any longer and went for a walk. I’m glad I did.

I jaywalked across Base Line Street in Highland and stepped over the cobblestones of the island in the middle of the street. A man in a compact car whizzed by and gave me a dirty look. Might have been my SF Giants’ cap.

Ambling past Baker’s and CVC I headed for a familiar destination, the Historic District of Highland. I’ve written about it often. Only on this evening there was a light show worthy of the Jefferson Airplane happening.

It was a bit after 8 p.m. and as I ascended Palm it was hard not to notice the sunset over Rialto. I stopped several times to snap photos.

Onward I went and soon I found myself in front of the ancient, shuttered bank on the corner of Palm and Main. I’m a sucker for this joint and took a few photos, but not many. The place always intrigues.

The big surprise in the Historic District is The Belle is open! The news had escaped me and I’m probably not the only one. The venerable Bella-Highland Café & Bar is an institution and it was great to see its neon OPEN sign shining brightly … even though I don’t drink, had no money and, well, was exercising.

I decided to halt my march and enter the iconic water hole. It was dark but I could make out some familiar sights – the U-shaped wood bar, the old HIGHLAND railroad sign and a children’s “Fire Chief” car whimsically attached to a wall.

I noticed customers out back in a patio I didn’t know existed. That’s when the bartender, Brittany, appeared. I said hello and explained I was a local media guy and a blogger and had written about the place before. She was cool and chatted amiably and even tried to show me an ancient bell that used to hang over the bar.

The light show was the star of the evening though and after bidding Brittany good-bye I took a left on Pacific and headed toward it. The sky was now a brilliant palette of blue, yellow and white and all I could think of was the Milwaukee Brewers. Obviously I’ve missed sports all these months.

My cell phone was running out of juice now and I really felt bad about that as I trudged down Central. I passed a huge, dilapidated white house on the right where some black crows were perching. Then I glanced back at the sky which was now an explosion of blue and magenta.

Reaching for my cell phone I tried to take a photo, but the device was as dead as Trump’s re-election hopes. Drat! Time to head home.