Coucher de soleil sur Wiltshire Boulevard, en face de La Brea Tar Pits.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunset opposite La Brea Tar Pits
Coucher de soleil sur Wiltshire Boulevard, en face de La Brea Tar Pits.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Chat with our neighbour
Back in the US after three weeks in Europe, we are jetlagged, relieved, and amazed by the weather, blue sky, warm and windy.
Our next door neighbour is always happy to chat, so we struck up a conversation. I was so proud to describe the canyons where we go walking, well, he knows them well: he grew up in this area. That’s surprising! Everyone I know has come to California and settled down.
Where we live there used to be an airport, Conejo Valley Airport!!! This used to be just ranches, it is so dry. It is only in the last twenty years that it has developed so much, thanks to Amgen! When the biotechnologies change the face of a region!
What a shame in a way, it is now quite built up, clean suburbs, growing fast and pushing away the wild spaces, making the coyotes, mountain lions hungrier, and more aggressive.
He told us about the tumbleweeds that used to roll around on windy days, and be in corners everywhere, in schools, in homes. Nowadays, the wild spaces are somewhat far enough to stop the tumbleweeds.
Instead of the Civic Arts Plaza, our local theatre/ museum, there was farm. One day a cougar that escaped, and people said it hid in a canyon for years. Cats and dogs disappeared regularly. It survived for more than a decade, he said.
Our neighbour also told us how to behave when you come across a rattlesnake. Always watch your steps on sunny paths, listen for the rattle sounds, back away slowly if you see one.
So he knows all the canyons. He used to roam around Hill Canyon, with his friends, and get into mischief. He remembers when people made the TV series, “Gunsmoke”, “the Rifleman”, because he and his friends would ride up to the set on their motorbikes, and were chased by the crew. Thousand Oaks was a film set, being so wild and with striking scenery.
How it has changed!
Our next door neighbour is always happy to chat, so we struck up a conversation. I was so proud to describe the canyons where we go walking, well, he knows them well: he grew up in this area. That’s surprising! Everyone I know has come to California and settled down.
Where we live there used to be an airport, Conejo Valley Airport!!! This used to be just ranches, it is so dry. It is only in the last twenty years that it has developed so much, thanks to Amgen! When the biotechnologies change the face of a region!
What a shame in a way, it is now quite built up, clean suburbs, growing fast and pushing away the wild spaces, making the coyotes, mountain lions hungrier, and more aggressive.
He told us about the tumbleweeds that used to roll around on windy days, and be in corners everywhere, in schools, in homes. Nowadays, the wild spaces are somewhat far enough to stop the tumbleweeds.
Instead of the Civic Arts Plaza, our local theatre/ museum, there was farm. One day a cougar that escaped, and people said it hid in a canyon for years. Cats and dogs disappeared regularly. It survived for more than a decade, he said.
Our neighbour also told us how to behave when you come across a rattlesnake. Always watch your steps on sunny paths, listen for the rattle sounds, back away slowly if you see one.
So he knows all the canyons. He used to roam around Hill Canyon, with his friends, and get into mischief. He remembers when people made the TV series, “Gunsmoke”, “the Rifleman”, because he and his friends would ride up to the set on their motorbikes, and were chased by the crew. Thousand Oaks was a film set, being so wild and with striking scenery.
How it has changed!
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