Monday, February 15, 2010

Name That House!

If you are genetically related to me and are between the ages of 41 and 74, you might be able to identify this house!

Here are some clues:
- It's in the San Fernando Valley in California.
- It might or might not have flammable liquids buried in the side yard.
- It might (or might not!) have a statue of a boy peeing into a pond off the master bath.
- I lived here when I went to Kindergarten- which is why I still remember it's address!

Ok, so this is my family's Chatsworth house. Looks pretty nice, doesn't it? This neighborhood has been revitalized and looks pretty pricey now. Last time I drove by here was about 20 years ago, and there were bars on the windows, so things have definitely improved! I remember a lot about this house and it's yard. I wish I had been brave enough to talk to the people who lived here now, but it was New Year's Eve day, and I didn't dare. I would have loved to have seen the backyard here, to see if it looked anything like I remember it.
We used to call this big grate "The Volcano", because it used to be buried in a bit of a pit. As my siblings can see, the big ball-eating bushes have all been removed. We spent hours playing in this yard. With the snails. And playing Marco Polo in the pool. And climbing on the swing set. And watching McDuff dig the sprinklers up. And seeing the bottlebrush flowers bloom. And thinking Mom's Bird of Paradise flowers were very exotic. And hoping the fires in the hills wouldn't burn out house too. And crowding under the door jams when an earthquake started. Lots of memories...

2 comments:

  1. And occasionally catching glimpses of the large goldfish in the "peeing" pond.
    And thinking the flocked wallpaper, velvet furniture and gilt mirror in the living room were very uptown and not at all "bordello-ish".
    And using the rocking chair in Ian's bedroom in the same way as a playground merry-go-round
    And avoiding swimming directly over the drain in the pool, just in case sharks were lurking there.

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  2. And the hummingbird nest built in a Chinese ornament hanging from the paito. And getting thrown in the pool WAY too many times.

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