TimeOut

‘Mid pleasures and palaces
This neighborhood is perhaps an hour or so’s walk from the house I grew up in (age 5-15). It's a bit more posh, but the homes range from "our house size" to considerably larger than ours (see below). 

Here the main point of similarity is the number of rocks in the yard. In this area of town, we didn't have to BUY rocks, they always came with the house. Notice how many big round rocks you see in this post, ok? 😉



We had citrus too, everybody planted oranges, lemons, limes, etc.



We did not have giant wacky cactus.



Or tiles on our sidewalk steps.



We did have stone retaining walls a’plenty, but ours were in the back and side yards.



We did have a patio cover like this too, til termites ate some posts and it fell down.



At some point we put stone on the lawn, in place of the grass.



We never had a truck. Chevy or otherwise.



Or cool custom paintings. But we did have lots of these agave plants.



I’m speechless. This was in a residential neighborhood! Lady doing her own weed-pulling out front.



We had a few spots where the plaster fell off, but we patched the spots. I guess these people (below) probably put artsy holes in their Levi’s too.



Our house was on level with the street, not lower.



This is a literal castle, with drawbridge!



I imagined we had a castle, but we didn’t really. But to a kid, “a home is a castle” and we were lucky to have one.



Honda Element. I had one.



Rock wall, redwood garage door, flag. I have one of each at my house, now.



I’m almost too tired to do any more comparisons. But I can’t stop. We don’t have shutters.



Or a lawn. We do have lots of flowers, thanks to Mrs C.



No whales, but lots of bougainvillea.



It’s not every day we see a rabbit — especially in mid-air! Yay, got him.



I like this house a lot but it might be too much for a (young) retired couple. 🤔 if I sold all my watches, perhaps?



Same house, front door.



I have a dead car in my driveway too! Same general condition and color.



I’m glad none of my neighbors have painted their homes this color scheme!



Can’t help but compare, but it’s not healthy unless you can shake it off and say, “I’m lucky to have what I do” and be grateful… and content. Until you see a Land Cruiser like this one, and say "I'd sure like that baby".