(no subject)

[senoritafish]

My favorite veggie!

A couple of blocks away, there used to be a rail spur down to the beach. When I was a kid, you could often hear train whistles, usually at night. The last mile or two of the spur was taken out a few decades ago, but the right of way still belonged to the railroad. When the first group of homes went in along the adjacent street, the area from the alley behind them to where the tracks used to be was left vacant. Homes built to the north ten years later take up the entire space, and the homeowners of the original development were pissed; some of them had asked if they could buy the property behind their houses and they were refused. In the meantime, quite a few of them are squatting. They've put in lawns, play areas and veggie gardens, as above. It's kind of neat because nothing is fenced off and you can walk down the alley to see what they've done - although some just let it go to weeds. Lately, we've been using the alley as a route for evening walks...

Artichoke
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
15 April 2009



I want this bench...



The weather this week was alternating between highs in the 80's for a few days, and then windy with an Arctic chill. This was one of the windy evenings...

This lot has fairly high trees, with a shady space behind the birdhouses.



I heard a train whistle in the middle of the night a few weeks ago and wondered if I were hearing ghosts. But no, the spur still exists as far down as the Cambro Plant, about a mile away. That must be where it ends, as the condo complex across the street are also built right over the former right-of-way.

Comments

[i-bookwyrme.livejournal.com]

I love the birdhouses myself. I always stop and look when I walk by there.

A while back, I asked a couple of kids about them & they gave me an enthusiastic tour--told me who had built which birdhouses when, how long they had been up. Made me love that bit all the more.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

I love finding the odd and unusual - birdhouses aren't really that unusual, but the sheer number of them!

That's really cool - we're always doing this in the evening when it seems like no one is around. And to tell the truth, I'm always self-conscious when I see someone in their yard, and I'd be unlikely to ask (my kids would though, they have no such qualms).

We must be neighbors - I've noticed we're often posting pics of things in the same neighborhood. ;)

[i-bookwyrme.livejournal.com]

One of the reasons I like the birdhouses so much is that they are in that little jungle in what could, otherwise, just be an empty mess or some ordinary grass, and new ones keep going up.

I usually don't ask people either--it took me months of wondering who was doing this to talk to anyone.

And, yes, I think we are within half a mile or so of one another, 'cause I keep recognizing places in your photos.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Maybe we'll bump into each other sometime! ;) I know Deb has told me she walks her dogs around here too, because she gets tired of her own neighborhood.

[i-bookwyrme.livejournal.com]

I'm usually out with my dog, so my response to the sight of other dogs is to detour, not looking at the owners (Cinder's a sweetie, but she doesn't know how to handle other dogs--barks & barks)

[i-bookwyrme.livejournal.com]

So, I shall have to try to notice who's holding the dogs.

Also, the more I look at this pic, the more I want to grow artichokes myself.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

No dogs here, yet. Would love to have one, but can't manage cats and kids too at this point.

Every year I want to plant an artichoke (and asparagus), but you're supposed to plant them in January and I never remember until March. They're a striking plant in their own right.