Friday, May 6, 2011

Different Route

You might happen to turn your car up Sierra Bonita Avenue looking for a cut-off from Washington Blvd. You might want a different way, a new route. As you're driving along this residential street you might happen to glance to the side and see a front yard--well, a garden--well, a folly, you might call it--a jumble of things growing and things man-made, all twisted together and making a weird sort of sense. You might stop the car and get out to gawk at the tiles made of broken dishes, the bits of hardware embedded in the sidewalk, the wind chime bones hanging from the branches.

This route is definitely different, you think.

You might take a picture, though you might not know what to focus on or where to crop the picture once you see it on your computer screen. You might like the photo anyway, for that very reason.

19 comments:

dive said...

Oooh … bone wind chimes! Very voodoo. I must hie me to the butcher's and get crafting.
This is a real fun yard, Petrea. Other than the obvious oddities, did you get any ideas for native plant species for your potential back yard remodelling project? The cactus, yucca and - what is that: acacia or mimosa? - look great here.

Anonymous said...

It's great to se people being so creative with their land. I love it!

Margaret said...

Folly is a good word, but it looks like a lot of love was put into this fantastical bit of garden. Glad you found it.

Bellis said...

It's always a delight to find a garden that's imaginatively landscaped. This one reminds me of the taboo/kapu sites of Polynesia. I bet it keeps the burglars away.

Trish said...

I knew someone who used to live near there. Not quite as decorated then as it is now, but still interesting enough to stop and look.

In my younger days, I was, shall we say, a little more tightly wound, than I am now. I didn't understand the "disorganization", preferring perfectly manicured lawns and well shaped shrubs. However, today, I'd stop to enjoy the yard, and am sure the younger version of me would not recognize her older self appreciating the yard.

but the bones hanging creep me out, no matter what age! eesh!

John Sandel said...

Is that the wind dying? O no; 
It's only two devils, that blow 
Through a murderer's bones, to and fro, 
In the ghosts' moonshine.

Death's Jest Book, l. 43-48 (Thos. L. Beddoes, 1803-49)

Pasadena Adjacent said...

folly keeps me jolly

Petrea Burchard said...

There are chairs out front, throne-like, beneath a canopy of decorative plates, for visitors to sit on and admire the chaos. I think the owners are used to folks stopping to take a look.
I didn't know that about taboo/kapu, Bellis, but maybe you and Dive are onto something with that and voodoo. Maybe J. and I could put up something like those bones in our yard to ward off the bad guys.

Curly said...

Is this wonderland??? It looks wonderful! It has to be wonderland!!!

TheChieftess said...

Wow! Look out Huntington Gardens!!!!

irinapictures said...

Amazing what your camera finds in Pasadena.

Petrea Burchard said...

I think any town has such wonderlands, or the equivalent unusual sights, if you go looking for them.

Irina, I could say the same for your camera in Moscow.

Ms M said...

Looks like a fascinating yard! There are some yards like that in Boise's old neighborhoods. Lawn as a canvas....
WV: emouse!

Virginia said...

I will agree that this was a car stopper. Wonderful, delightful find P.
V

Petrea Burchard said...

"Lawn as canvas." I like that, Ms. M!

Virginia, I sense you holding back.

Susan Campisi said...

I know that yard. It's in my old 'hood. I loved it for its folly (you get full credit for the perfect word); Tommy loved it because lots of creatures lived there. I never saw them but Tommy smelled them.

I like the flow of your words in this post. The rhythm goes well with the whimsy of the garden.

Dina said...

A bone mobile! That gives me a project idea.

Curly said...

Yes Wonderland is everywhere if your eyes catch it, but through this picture everyone can see it even if they're not paying that much attention!!! :-)

Petrea Burchard said...

We'll all see different things in a garden like this one, and they're all there. What Tommy sees is as valid as what Susan sees.

Dina, I hope you make a bone mobile.

Thanks, Daisy. Since picking up a camera I've seen more of the world. Or seen it differently. It's an adventure.