cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
20750
Walking Abnormal Heights
When we first got married, almost 50 years ago, we lived in a neighborhood called Normal Heights. Settled about 100 years earlier, it was filled with old people who hadn't moved to the suburbs, young people like us renting tiny shacks, and plenty of odd ducks... (our neighbor got arrested for pimping, and then caught selling drugs in the city jail).
We called the area "Abnormal Heights" and moved out a year later when we could buy a house. We walked Abnormal Heights today, staying mostly on paved surfaces in recognition of the effort spent cleaning our shoes and pulling out stickers from our socks (see the last walk report for details).
The first eyecatcher was this Hawaiian or tropical bungalow with a car befitting the scheme.
Even the vacant land was colorful, due to work of the neighbors and the abundant rainfall we've had this winter.
Kids contest - scariest mask made from a palm frond.
Nearby is the stone house, which I remember from my youth growing up a few miles from here. I resented these people a little because this house motivated my step-father to decorate our back yard with stone walls, and having no money for hired help, the male children (that would be me) were expected to fetch and carry the stones.
I have to say that we saw more hummingbirds than ever today, but all were so busy I only got one clear shot. Here it is:
Kids contest - scariest mask made from a palm frond.
Nearby is the stone house, which I remember from my youth growing up a few miles from here. I resented these people a little because this house motivated my step-father to decorate our back yard with stone walls, and having no money for hired help, the male children (that would be me) were expected to fetch and carry the stones.
I couldn't get the whole house in one photo without standing in the middle of a very busy road, so this 3-series will have to suffice.
A forelorn building at the end of a private lane caught my eye. It needs a little more love. This too reminds me of Hawaii.
We came across another stone house, this one much more desirable with large level lot, multiple levels and lovely landscaping.
Twelve tiny roses in the cluster indicated by my wife's finger.
The builder was certainly an artiste.
And the owners are superb gardeners.
The flowers in this neighborhood were amazing. It's really come way up in terms of owner maintenance (at least on most of the homes).
The disco ball was in another garden and I couldn't resist a photo although it wasn’t spinning.
These are some kind of nightshade vines, said my wife. Our research indicates they’re called Brugmansia.
I think you can get a sense of the houses and the yards.
And the efforts of the homeowners.
Gadzooks, what bright Gazanias!
As we walked on, things changed a bit and we ran into a few newer and more avante garde homes.
But they were sprinkled lightly through the 'hood, and things were (ab)normal again soon. This Ford Ranger "Camper Special" pickup had an extraordinarily long cargo bed on the back.
Perhaps to haul enormous cactus paddles, dominating the front garden of the house across the street from the truck.
A nice home / garden mosaic.
And this looked like a Viking rowboat, turned up and turned into a "Little Library".
We eventually came to a street that petered out at the end, where a small house had been abandoned, torn (or burned) down, and the property left vacant (after some fires in the Eighties).
This is the view to my left side (West) as I walked North. I've never seen such colors in our foliage. Ever.
Here is the view to the North East. Qualcomm stadium is gone, replaced by the unremarkable-looking Snapdragon stadium.
Walking straight ahead the path plunged steeply into Mission Valley. I turned around here as my wife was reluctant to go on the steep and slippery sandstone.
As we drove home, she started to think about planting more yellow flowers in the yard...
We only have about a million at the moment, not counting those she cut for a luncheon flower display.
Today's watch, a Credor seven-hander (Seiko) with day, date, power reserve and GMT plus hours, minutes and seconds.
As we walked back away from the busy Adams Avenue, we passed some tiny homes with long deep lots, like this one. San Diego has some very rugged terrain, with steep canyons in between the streets. People didn't grade huge swaths of land for housing as we do today.
California poppies in a front garden!
We came across another stone house, this one much more desirable with large level lot, multiple levels and lovely landscaping.
Twelve tiny roses in the cluster indicated by my wife's finger.
The builder was certainly an artiste.
And the owners are superb gardeners.
The flowers in this neighborhood were amazing. It's really come way up in terms of owner maintenance (at least on most of the homes).
The disco ball was in another garden and I couldn't resist a photo although it wasn’t spinning.
These are some kind of nightshade vines, said my wife. Our research indicates they’re called Brugmansia.
I think you can get a sense of the houses and the yards.
And the efforts of the homeowners.
Gadzooks, what bright Gazanias!
As we walked on, things changed a bit and we ran into a few newer and more avante garde homes.
As you can see here.
But they were sprinkled lightly through the 'hood, and things were (ab)normal again soon. This Ford Ranger "Camper Special" pickup had an extraordinarily long cargo bed on the back.
Perhaps to haul enormous cactus paddles, dominating the front garden of the house across the street from the truck.
A nice home / garden mosaic.
And this looked like a Viking rowboat, turned up and turned into a "Little Library".
We eventually came to a street that petered out at the end, where a small house had been abandoned, torn (or burned) down, and the property left vacant (after some fires in the Eighties).
This is the view to my left side (West) as I walked North. I've never seen such colors in our foliage. Ever.
Here is the view to the North East. Qualcomm stadium is gone, replaced by the unremarkable-looking Snapdragon stadium.
Walking straight ahead the path plunged steeply into Mission Valley. I turned around here as my wife was reluctant to go on the steep and slippery sandstone.
As we drove home, she started to think about planting more yellow flowers in the yard...
We only have about a million at the moment, not counting those she cut for a luncheon flower display.
Today's watch, a Credor seven-hander (Seiko) with day, date, power reserve and GMT plus hours, minutes and seconds.
Thanks for joining us.
Cazalea
Walking Abnormal Heights
When we first got married, almost 50 years ago, we lived in a neighborhood called Normal Heights. Settled about 100 years earlier, it was filled with old people who hadn't moved to the suburbs, young people like us renting tiny shacks, and plenty of odd d...
The tropical and stone homes....
are considerably more appealing to me than the rather bland contemporary design toward the end of the thread ....
Good, I won't put any more bland modern homes in ...
But here's some frontage we really liked, and because we could see some solar on top we imagined a new-ish house behind the plantings The mail box and address sign hinted towards modern. Oops. Apple maps and Zillow say 1927 and re-landscaped years ago thu...
The stone homes are amazing.
Never saw anything like that before. I’m guessing those stones are imported/transported from a company that specializes in making them. Is it a local company?
The stones were picked up on the property or alongside roads that were being graded at the time
We live in a city of rocks! Link to the first house recent sale listing Here's the story on the second house I featured. When we first bought our house we had an idea to put a river (dry creek bed) in our lower 40 acres Using whatever vehicle I had we hau...
Always more great details to each story 🙏🏽
I love the description of “arts and crafts architecture,” and the fact these were built in what is described as a creative period. You showed two separate rock house properties, but I wonder how many others in that area. Regarding the rocks, I didn’t thin...
As I was taking the pictures so was a runner
To be honest the Ghia was a 20-ft car; any closer and many small flaws were apparent. I saw this BMW 2002 also a bit rough. ...
Charming…
And oh so pleasant, as always. Lovely shots. Lovely walk. And the framing of that shot of the hummingbird…👌 Thank you for sharing!
GREAT post !!
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Entirely soulful, thanks for sharing Best Gatsby
A cool and ecclectic neighbourhood
Would love to meet the birds of paradise that inhabit it