This Reader is in Tarzana, north of Ventura Blvd on Wilbur Ave. I have counted 9 Psychic Reader’s in Tarzana, so far. There is a Miss Stacy, Tanta Diane, Miss Tina, Jin, and signs popping up on lawns and business buildings. I am not recommending this one but this sign was just in the way of my camera. I looked up Psychic Reader’s in Tarzana and found very few who are advertised on the Internet. If you decided to use any Psychic Readers please report back to me. Report from any state, any country just anywhere. I am interested in your results, but I am personally afraid to hear my own.

 The Marvin Baude Mulholland Gateway Park is in the Santa Monica Mountains with its trailhead at the southern end of Reseda Blvd in Tarzana. I remember the fight for many years that Marvin Braude a Councilman and Jill Swift of the Sierra Club had to save these beautiful mountains for hiking, biking and lifelong preservation for generations to come.  There was talk of building a highway that would start in Tarzana at the end of Reseda blvd and wind over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean.  I’ll admit the thought of having that kind of access to Malibu and the Pacific was interesting, but when you take into consideration the need for preserving more of our natural lands, there is no question that the efforts to preserve this large expanse of undeveloped wild land cannot even be questioned.

For a great family hike and one for an introduction to the Santa Monica Mountains would be the one that starts at the MBMGP at the end of Reseda and is the 3.5 Caballero Canyon loop. We will hike tomorrow.

Today is tomorrow: Hike Day

On the ride from the Ventura Freeway (101) you exit on Reseda Blvd and head south into the Santa Monica Mountains because you have a date to hike the Caballero Canyon Loop. You will be passing homes, the side of El Caballero Golf and country club, and a magnificent gated community called Silver Hawk. As you continue south you will pass another golf and country club called Braemar as well as another gated community called Braemar Estates. Again as you continue, you will pass Mulholland Park, another most magnificent gated community with brilliant views of Tarzana and beyond. Very soon after Mulholland Park you will pass through a gate that allows you entrance into the park and the Santa Monica Mountains. Read the signs carefully. There is a pay for parking machine I do not understand.  Remember this when you are ready to leave the park. There is a camcorder waiting there to video you if you do a California roll through the stop sign.  In several weeks you will get a whopping ticket and proof that you did not stop at the sign leaving the park. Once you have driven up to the stop and whether you stopped or not, you have been videoed. If you have not made a complete stop, you are ticketed and posted on the Internet. If you stop there is no posting. They get you coming and going, but it is worth the effort. I have this information from an informant who  has gone through the process.

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MY SAFARI IN TARZANA: Day # 11

First we went to Tarzana Park where I have fond memories of the coop day care. Parents would take certain days to help the park’s day care director. Since I had twins, I was scheduled for two days a week. What’s fair is fair’

 The park is in beautiful condition and is ready at all times for people to come and enjoy the surroundings.  There is a new recreation center with beautiful wood floors. Enter the center and young, middle-aged and older men are engaged in a heated basketball practice. The bouncing of the ball and the squeaking of the shoes makes for a symphony of melodious sounds; the men make it a feast for the eyes, and for the participant’s camaraderie.

It was time for lunch so we picked Thai: Thai Restaurants in Tarzana are:

Takzin Thai, Thai Original BBQ and my new find Lemongrass Thai. The food at Lemongrass is a fine mixture of Chinese and Thai and what comes of that mixture is heavenly. What a nice discovery at 19560 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana. Takzin Thai has been a favorite for years, but the new taste of Lemongrass was delightful. You cannot go wrong in any of the three Thai eateries here in Tarzana. Once the food was consumed at Lemongrass, they brought the tariff and on the tray were two fortune cookies.  Believe me, I do not like my fortune told and usually do not open my cookie, but today was Tarzana Day and I reluctantly I unwrapped the cookie. So you know, it read: “It is much wiser to take advice than to give it.” I agree, but when I turned it over, my jaw dropped and I read: “Es mas sabio seguir consejos que darlos.” Is this a sure sign of assimilation? Is this just plain silly? It is what it is.

Next stop: Mrs. Beasley’s

 This particular Mrs. Beasley’s is located in Tarzana.

I do believe it was the first location in what has become a large corporation delivering their “fresh and gourmet cookies and cakes nationwide”. How can they be fresh when they are in route? They boast that their delicious “homemade products are made the old-fashioned way.” This Tarzana store is on the south side of Ventura blvd between Tampa and Corbin. At the Beverly Hills and Pasadena locations they provide curbside service. Order in advance and have curbside pick up. That’s a new one on me. Fairly recently, Mrs. Beasley’s bought the rights to Miss Grace Lemon Cake, and now posses the rights to make, bake this famous “ award winning” cake.  Now it is advertised as Mrs. Beasley’s Miss Grace Lemon Cake. Approximately twenty years ago, Skip and I stopped at the original Miss Grace to buy a Mrs. Grace Lemon Cake for a dinner party. It was a tiny little thing, but packed a powerhouse of sweet and tart flavor.  The lady put it in a box and handed it to Skip with a smile and said that will be $15.99. Skip nearly dropped the box and said,” I am not going to need this.” He gave the box back to her and we left the store. He drove to Tarzana’s tried and true bakery, Bea’s Bakery and bought a cake for 3 or 4 dollars. The Bea’s cake was beautiful, decorative to the maximum and delicious. Nothing was lost in translation. Every so often, Skip and I would go into Miss Grace Lemon Cake to see how the prices had elevated. The first trip brought is up to $19.99, then, $22.99, then $25.99, then we lost track until today in the Tarzana Mrs. Beasley’s store where it is now $29.99 with free shipping. To date: we have never bought a Miss Grace Lemon Cake. Skip has his principles.

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There is a coyote problem in Tarzana, but if you keep your pets inside at night, bring in the pet food and remove fallen fruit from trees, you most likely will not encounter a problem. There are thousands of Coyotes are out there, so arm yourself with a stick when you are out walking your dog at dusk or after nightfall.  Most coyote attacks are against small animals and pets. It is quit rare for coyotes to attack humans. Many families have suffered losses of their unprotected dogs left outside in the back yards at night. Our family has lost two dogs and two cats to prowling coyotes. We learned to keep our pets safe. I remember a naturalist giving a talk at one of the travel stores and she said, “Remember who was on your land first, so have respect when they are still there.” I wonder if she meant the trillions of jackrabbits on our lawn. The problem was nearly non-existent some years back and now the hungry bunnies have ruined our backyard lawn. In recent years and especially this year, they seem to be a major pest. This is from Catherine Carpenter: `”I live in the hills in Tarzana,” she wrote, ”and unfortunately our back lawn has become the community lawn for families of rabbits. No amount of Liquid Fence (a deer and rabbit repellent), hot pepper spray or even our 100-pound German shepherd keeps them away. They frolic and eat our lawn and flowers to their hearts’ content.”

Our yard has become nearly impossible to walk upon, because it is now a carpet of bunny pellets. They say the only way to keep bunnies at bay is with a three-foot fence on top and 6-10 inches into the ground. Our property is too big for that option, so we thought about a dump truck full of rat poison, but that won’t work either. Do we want to poison the lovely birds in our yard, the quail, the bobcats, the friendly snakes, lizards by the gross, owls, squirrels, and I wouldn’t mind feeding the poison to gophers, mice, rats, and as stated, the rabbits, but then again who wants to mess with the ecosystem just for the sake of a carpet of bunny pellets.

They say there are mountain lions in this environment, but no one I know has ever see one.  We have seen and even caught a bobcat. They are huge and dangerous to your pets.

I remember my Uncle Leslie bought the rights from Disney to use Bugs Bunny ‘s saying” What’s Up Doc?” He used them on a series of sheets and towels and they sold like wild fire. Good for Uncle L.

Clearly, Bugs is back and has brought the generations of his family to live and eat in our backyard. Oh Bugs.

What did you say? You wanted to see the carpet of rabbit pellets? Oh come on. Who goes out early in the morning to capture photos of fresh bunny poop? I did, just for you. Look! Well fed bunnies.

 We will have to take some action regarding this carpet of pellets. I think any action that will work is illegal, so end of discussion

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If you take a driving tour around Tarzana, you will notice a trend

called “mansionization.” You will notice oversized new houses where they have torn down the existing house replacing it with one that is huge in comparison and certainly much larger than surrounding houses. They look out of place to the eye because most are built on undersized lots with turrets and faux-chateau pretensions. You are probably familiar with this trendy phenomenon. You may have it going on in your neighborhoods as well. The Tarzana Property Owners Association (TOPA) believes they are here to preserve and enhance the quality of life for residents of our community, so they recently passed a Mansionization Ordinance. First is the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, which was passed in June of 2008 and limits the maximum size of homes as a function of the zone and lot size. The second stage is underway right now and that is to better define the hillside areas. Finally the third state is still in early planning which will develop a Hillside Mansionization Ordinance.

 

I mention these ordinances because today I was invited to help one of the neighbors residing on the valley floor to pick and take lemons. The family bought one acre of land where an existing house resides. They built a magnificent guesthouse, which will house them as they bull doze the main house and rebuild something wonderful. They are working madly to get the process done before some mansionization ordinances come in to play. They fall into the category of 50% of the lot size, so they have lots of room for a legal mansion.

 

I took away knowledge, a great appreciation and awe of people who can work all of the angles in the mighty process of designing and building a house from the ground up. I took away a huge bag of lemons.  I thought of the saying…when life gives you lemons… and began the process of making lemonade even though it does give me heartburn.

I interviewed an architect who has been residing here in Tarzana since 1959. After surveying all the possibilities offered in Tarzana at the time he was buying a piece of land to build a family home, he chose a beautifully wooded piece of property containing dozens of Eucalyptus and Pine trees, located just above the din of Van Alden. He wanted this piece of land and only this one.  It so happened that it came with covenants and restrictions that would run with and bind the land forever. The agent at the time told him this restriction was that he or anyone in his family could not sell the land to any Asiatic persons. He was stunned because his Chinese aunt was sitting right next to him and as the agent imparted these words, flashes of awful memories enduring World War II as a boy in Manila, Philippines came back to him. He knew that Asian blood ran in his veins, but he signed the paper anyway. What did it mean to him? He said he wanted that piece of land to design and build his dream home and so what did a declaration of covenants and restrictions mean? Nothing.

Now look at Tarzana. We are a perfect example of America’s melting pot; covenants, restrictions declarations, be damned.

 

Lovely friends Linda and Bob came to visit and cheer us up. It was great visiting and it made time speed. It helped Skips pain wane.  It struck us as funny that our conversations kept drifting back to the death of friends, their illnesses, our own and talk of folks gaining in age.  There is an adage that says, “No pain no gain.” I would like to rearrange that one to read, “Gain no pain.” 

 

 

 

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