Here in the Hills

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

photo archives - my neighborhood

When I was still able to walk up my hill.....I would take lots of pictures on my way up and then again, on my way back down....This particular shot was taken on the street that is at the top of my particular area......The View, between this home and a wall, is quite different than my view....Do click on all of these pictures to enlarge them...... Coming in a little closer.....What I love about this particular picture is that you can see the denseness of homes from way below, to up quite high....And then, in the distance.....Well, here is a closer look at what that is waaaay in the distance....! There. at the top of the mountain.....over on the right of the 'view' part of the picture, is rather famous Griffith Park Observatory....This is much further east from where we are here on my hill.....Rashbre....You might be interested in seeing this....He took some pictures from the Observatory which he should on his Blog....Also, this very famous landmark was made more famous when it was used quite prominently in "Rebel Without A Cause", one of the three films that James Dean was in...... This spindly looking plant is an Ocotillo....It is quite popular in the desert...you see lots of them out in the Palm Springs area....In fact, many years ago there was a hotel in Palm Springs which I stayed at called Gene Autrey's Ocotillo Lodge----long gone now.....The thing about the Ocotllo is, it looks pretty dead a lot of the year, but then, when it goes green....and blooms, it is really quite beautiful.....This one is in front of a kind of modern house, that is has almost no garden---the front of the house being quite close to the street. So, there is what one would call a minimalist garden out front.... Above, coming in a little closer, you can see the green growth---pretty minimal in itself, and the very pretty blooms that are a kind of shocking orange....And, very beautiful. Everything about The Ocotillo is not like any other plant that I have ever seen except maybe some other species of Ocotillo.....But it certainly makes some kind of statement sitting alone in front of this particular home. (I have one in my garden, below my house, mixed in with many other plants....) This house has a view looking east towards downtown Los Angeles and Griffith Park Observatory----and again, it is on the street at the top of my hill..... Long time readers of this blog may recall this little creature....He lives on this street, too....also in a house that faces east....Here is a closer look at him..... I found him very scary looking....And coming across his picture, once again, and I still find him kind of scary, I must say..... There was a man doing some work painting on the Ironwork in the front of this doggies home, and he told me that this little guy was a sweetheart of a dog....gentle and friendly and very very docile. He said, he wouldn't hurt a fly. It just goes to show you, you really cannot tell a book by it's cover..... Here are two of the many Palm Trees you see all over Los Angeles and Southern California....I don't know the name of the top one, but I see him everywhere.....and at the bottom of the picture is either a small King Palm or a small Queen Palm....I do have a few of those on my property below....I especially love the King Palms and the Date Palms, too..... Going further down this particular street, there are many homes with red Spanish style roofs....I love the look of these roofs and up on my hill, there are an abundance of these homes.....As you can see, people had put out there trash cans, as it was pick-up day, the next day.....The green cans are for plants and related materials; the blue is the re-cycle bin. And the black....(which shouldn't be lying there like that....lol) is for food and any other non recyclable items.....Below, all of these trash cans are from one house. One. We are all pretty eccentric up here on my hill, I guess....a lot of show business people live up here...Actors, Writers, Producers, etc., etc....I have been up here in my home for 45 years....Yup! Forty-Five years.....I have seen a lot of changes of course, but I have also seen a kind of loyalty from so very many home owners up here....People love this area and usually stay for many many years, though there are certainly some people who move on, and go further West.....There are some more of these pictures of my neighborhood and I will be posting them soon again.......

More To Come.......

34 Comments:

sonia a. mascaro had this to say:: LOVE these photos of your neighborhood, Naomi! What a great view you have!

I remember well the photo of this "very scary looking" dog.

I am looking forward to see more pictures.
Have a nice day!; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 5:56:00 AM PDT
Monogram Queen had this to say:: I very much enjoyed the tour of your neighborhood Naomi! But the song from Sesame Street kept playing in my head about "Your Neighborhood" LOL; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:12:00 AM PDT
Shionge had this to say:: Hey Noami what a lovely tour and yes the doggie sure looked scary and in fact a bit lonely I reckoned.

So many trash bins for only one house? Must have lots of stuff to throw or they just party all night long LOLz.

I love the unique plants all over LA and what a lovely neighbourhood indeed.

I just love LA :D; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:17:00 AM PDT
Chickie had this to say:: I don't care what the man said - that dog looks like he would eat your face. Maybe it's something to do with his haircut?

ALL of those trash bins from one house?! Holy cow.; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:24:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: Thanks for the tour. It looks like you have a very pleasant environment. Given that it's cold again here, I could use some balmy weather.

Cheers.; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:51:00 AM PDT
Bobkat had this to say:: I cna see from these pictures why people stay in your neighbourhood for many years - the views are wonderful! There's something nice and spacious about being up high isn't there? :)

I think that dog looks a bit scary too - I think it's because the lighter markings on his face look a little skull like. I can imagine him being a dear though. People don't like my lizards but they are the sweetest creatures! LoL!

Thanks for sharing these photos.; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 7:58:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: It's so interesting to see a completely different part of the country, and what a nieghborhood looks like in your neck of the woods. So very different, but beautiful.

And you are right. That dog's face looks like a skull! Eerie.

I am envious of how progressive CA is with the trash/recycling thing. When we lived on the Shore we used to travel over an hour to take recyclables. As you can imagine, no one else bothered. Now that we live in a neighborhood with curbside pickup only half of our neighbors bother to recycle (????).; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8:19:00 AM PDT
Unknown had this to say:: Who lives in the house with all the trash-cans!? California!; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8:50:00 AM PDT
kenju had this to say:: SO many trash cans for one house! They should learn to recycle more.

That dog has his raccoon mask on....
LOL; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 10:37:00 AM PDT
Chris had this to say:: All those trash cans are from one houes??!! Holy smokes. That must be one BIG HOUSE with a lot of people!! One of these days Naomi, we need to meet so I can come get some great photographs from your gorgeous home and of you, too!! Maybe you can invite my boyfriend, Earl, too! LOL.; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 11:07:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: Scary pup looks like he needs lots of petting & some affection. I have to stop thinking I can rescue all needy animals ;-0. Who is the guy(ok, it could be a girl) with all those freakin' trash cans?
~Mary; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 11:15:00 AM PDT
Jamie Dawn had this to say:: Those are some awfully trashy people who have all those trash cans.
:-)
They must have a large yard with a lot of yard waste as well as a lot of other garbage each week. At least they are keeping their place clean!
I feel fortunate to have seen your neighborhood with my own eyes. I like the variety of homes and the way they sit in various ways on the hillside.; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 5:03:00 PM PDT
TorAa had this to say:: Oh Dear,
your neighbourhood is very differnt from ours.
Ecxept the dog and the Mercedes;))

btw. at 2:21 papa must go tobed.
returnin asap; Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:21:00 PM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: I love that you shared your tour. It's always nice to see what a walk down someone's street would be like, and how it matches your original perception.

That dog is strange looking. It almost has the face of a human blended with a dog. The expression of the eyes particularly.; Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 6:25:00 AM PDT
Deana had this to say:: That little dog looks vicious! Thanks for the neat journey through your neighborhood. I really enjoyed it.; Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 9:00:00 AM PDT
Scarlet had this to say:: I love the stroll through your neighborhood. The spingly plant is so unusual; I love the orange at the top! I also think that dog has a mean look about him...something in the eyes. If it's true what they say about the eyes being the mirror to the soul, I'd keep my distance. :)

I can see why you've been in the hills 45 years...it's BEAUTIFUL! I wouldn't want to live anywhere else if I were you.; Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 11:09:00 AM PDT
Frequent Traveler had this to say:: How lovely to be in one place for 45 years, Naomi ! You're really seen the city grow and change, too...

I'd have to make friends with that doggie :) Pet him to let him know that he was loved and the scary face didn't stop me from getting to know the real him :); Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 2:29:00 PM PDT
sonia a. mascaro had this to say:: Hi Naomi, thanks for your nice words about Flora! If she could understand I know she will be very glad to hear your lovely words to her!

Ken Mac is also a fan of Flora. It's amazing that Flora have an admirer in LA and another in NY! LOL! Did you saw the post he did about Leaves of Grass with four photos of Flora? If you have the time, please, click on this LINK.

Have a nice day. A big hug to you and to Sweetie too.; Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 2:51:00 PM PDT
Rain Trueax had this to say:: that is an interesting tour of your neighborhood. I have driven through some like it and always think they would be interesting places to live. Ocotillo are in Tucson also and the first alert that cactus will be blooming soon. And on the dog, the owners always say that :); Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 6:12:00 PM PDT
tweetey30 had this to say:: Wow amazing street. Nothing that beautiful here on my street.; Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 9:05:00 PM PDT
awareness had this to say:: I like knowing what your neighbourhood looks like because then i can picture you more clearly. :)

I'm writing this looking out at my street and it sure is different! Covered in snow still and not that pretty right now, however the sunrise this morning over the frozen river is gorgeous! Soon, soon....there will be spring flowers, but never the fauna you have there. :); Friday, March 13, 2009 at 3:36:00 AM PDT
Pat had this to say:: Loved the tour. I think your hill may be higher than ours but the red roofs and white houses are familiar. Did James Dean really only make three films? Amazing!
The grassy plant outside the gate I have in my garden and also the euphornium but it just didn't look right so I lost it. Look forward to more:); Friday, March 13, 2009 at 4:10:00 AM PDT
VV had this to say:: The shape of the white hair on that dog's face reminds me of a skeleton face. Creepy.; Friday, March 13, 2009 at 6:11:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: I zeroed in on the dog right away, before you zoomed in. He looks haunting and has a sort of man's face.

I felt like I took a walk. Could have used the exercise. I love the sense of community you describe.; Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:48:00 PM PDT
Lucy Stern had this to say:: Goodness, some of those houses are right to the edge of the street.....And that house with all the garbage cans must put his trash out once a month...lol.

I love the views from you house, Naomi...You can see so many things and all those plants are so beautiful.

Can't wait for more pictures....; Friday, March 13, 2009 at 9:03:00 PM PDT
Jammie J. had this to say:: All those trash cans, one house, huh? Must've been one hell of a party! LOL

OR maybe they forgot to put their cans out for a month! :)

Yep, that dog is just an odd looking thing, isn't it?; Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 12:10:00 AM PDT
Rick Rockhill had this to say:: great photo essay, Naomi. I too love Ocotillos, and yes we have loads of them here in Palm Springs. That old Gene Autry Lodge is something different these days, but the legend of Gene still resonates here. In fact they are building a center on Gene Autry Trail with a statue of him. He really loved Palm Springs.; Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 6:16:00 AM PDT
swilek had this to say:: thanks for the tour of your neighbourhood! love it! i always loved the look of the houses in CA and of course LOVE the palm trees, both of which we don't have here in Canada!; Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 7:16:00 AM PDT
Teena in Toronto had this to say:: Thanks for the tour of your 'hood!; Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:47:00 PM PDT
debra had this to say:: I'm a bit late in checking out your blog. Too much going on. I love the pictures and especially the bright blue sky!; Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 7:53:00 PM PDT
joared had this to say:: Am catching up with you once again after being away from blogging a bit and making some changes.

Wow! That's a lot of cans from one house. We typically have 3 different ones -- one for greenery, one for recyclables and one for garbage. Some with large families may have several cans of each type.

Yeah, I remember that "Rebel Without A Cause" scene at the Observatory. Enjoyed going up there the recent year they re-opened after being closed and undergoing some remodeling.

The ocotillo cacti are so bright and pretty when those red blooms emerge in a barren desert.; Monday, March 16, 2009 at 9:19:00 PM PDT
Rachel had this to say:: Hi Naomi!! I'm just catching up on my blog reading and commenting. Like you, life gets in the way sometimes!!

I love all these photos! The dog is different looking and the color of his face makes him/her look more frightening I think!!

I can't believe ONE house would have that many trash cans!! That is a lot of cans!!!; Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 7:40:00 PM PDT
Melody had this to say:: Ooo I love tours of your neighbourhood. More again soon? I should do that for a post too... One day perhaps.; Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 2:35:00 AM PDT
Anonymous had this to say:: Yes...it's me, really me, Naomi! Finally finding a bit of spare time to visit you...one of my favorite people.
What a great tour of your neighborhood and I look forward to seeing it for REAL when I'm in LA next year!
I have to agree on that doggie...and I'm a huge dog fan....but he does look scary. It's his eyes, I think. They just don't look "gentle" and sweet. But he IS awful cute.
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net; Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 4:59:00 PM PDT