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Diaryland
Welcome to Long Beach March 24, 2005 @ 1:11 p.m.
A series of three imporant events occured about the time I was beginning to develop long-term memory. My dad got a job at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), eventually working for Leroy Hood, who if you are in the chemistry or biotech field you know is a mentsch (I love Yiddish). Also, we moved into our first house, which was in Long Beach in the vicinity of the marina and Signal Hill. And my brother was born.
The move I don't really remember, but the intimate details of that house are firmly entrenched in me. We were either the first owners of the house or else the first owners had changed their minds within a few months of moving in. The house was part of a relatively new complex called Bixby Village that sprawled over a little hill. There was a golf course right behind my neighbors homes, and although no one in our family ever played golf, my brother and I got out there every now and then for various reasons. There was a big complex of aparments across the street from the housing complex, and a shopping center with a big Ralph's grocery market just down the street. From the back of Bixby Village was a hill that went down to my first elementary school, Kettering, and also a street that led out to the California State University Long Beach, where I later had speech therapy.
Bixby Village itself was very pretty, with swimming pools and townhouses and streets that twisted in neat ways. But the place was a real drag for kids, mostly because there was just so few of us. I don't know if my parents were aware of it or not, but most of the residents there were older couples bordering on or into retirement. Yuppies were rare, and kids were rarer. My mom always felt bad for us that we never got to enjoy big Halloweens with masses of trick-or-treaters, but rather were part of a dozen or so kids covering the whole neighborhood.
Our house was two stories, with a small, gated front garden and a really small yard out back, with wooden walls and a direct view of your neighbor's homes. My mom always used to get mad that I wouldn't play outside more often, but honestly there wasn't much to do, at least on our street. One fun place to play was a little "island" in the middle of our street with grass and a small tree. I don't think it was big enough to climb on, but I remember organizing various adventures there with the neighborhood kids and a little imagination. Oh, that was the other thing - not only were there few kids, but there were even fewer kids my age, and none who were within a reasonable distance of my home at 406 Shea Lane. Once again, my mom used to get annoyed with me for something I couldn't really help - only playing with the younger kids and never playing with kids my own age. Add my introverted personality and the emerging world of computer games, and its little wonder that I didn't get out as much as she would have liked.
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
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