Fences
So comically, having decided it was WAY too difficult to get Zcare for tonight’s SCPC meeting www.socalplanning.org on Glendale redevelopment 2 days ago I decided not to go so Zelda and I could have a calm day at home, to recoup, to clean up, to enjoy the yard, the toys etc.
Then we got an invitation to the zoo from Dabu & Monica and ended up going to the zoo, having a late lunch IN Glendale, which I left only about 2 hours before the dinner meeting was starting. Sigh.
We had a great time at the zoo in spite of the oppressive heat I really just associate with the L.A. zoo, we were there with Wendy. Rich & Joey (Jojo! says Z) in January and it was like the highest temperature since the days of the dinosaurs I think. Zelda thought the giraffes were “wonderful”. I kid you not. Her word, first use to my knowledge. She loved the Zebras and wanted more monkeys and to see the tigers most of the trip. Monkeys and tigers were keeping cool though so it was tough to enjoy them. Also, has’t anyone invented see-through fences yet? So we can better see the tapirs etc.?
So the zoo got me to thinking more about fences. I’ve been pondering them because I want to pen in our front yard to a) make it a safer playspace for little ones, and b) to make a sort of outdoor room front yard where we can sit and enjoy flowers, the planes landing etc. in an enclosed space. Now, as a planner I sort of feel than fences are a BAD message to the neighbors. And truthfully, Zelda and I spend probably MORE time in the front yard than the back as it is, playing with flowers and watching birds & planes, so maybe no fence is necessary, but somehow it feels to MAKE a space, I need visible boundaries. Besides I want to grow things up and over the fence, and maybe put up an arbor for climbing things, and a fence could boast a bench too, even for outside the fence neighbors. And I took a straw poll of my neighbors and all LOVE the idea of a fence. Weird on a street that has exactly THREE fenced yards, one a hideous wall that serves the purpose it was intended to: keeping people off their property, one a lovely flowery scene that was professionally landscaped etc, but is never enjoyed and a new fence 2 houses down meant to penn in it’s resident children, which looks nice and now causes Zelda to longingly gaze into the fence at the toys saying “ball…ball Maman!…toys…truck?…toys Maman! toys!” pointing to me as though I cannot see them and that they appeal and are beyond our reach.
They always had toys on the lawn, although perhaps fewer, never really attracted her attention much…
So at the zoo the fences have a clear purpose and still they try where they can to make them function as seats, footrests, viewing spots etc. Made me wonder whether I really want to make a pen for us. Maybe teaching little Z that the sidewalk is her limit when she’s alone and trusting her to learn that will work…but then I’ll never feel comfortable making the porch a patio area. So it’s about needing the fence to feel a sense of privacy although we’ll be just as visible unless we buy grown trees or plant a wall of bamboo.
I reread the above. clearly, time for bed! it’s 3 and I should have kept my mouth shut and posted pictures, it’s what you want, right? Well, the imagined future you when we tell anyone we have a webpage/blog…
One more tale from the zoo, when Dabu and Zelda greeted each other, first time in a while, Donovan came up to Zelda (in the stroller) and said tickle tickle tickle making gestures at her neck. I think I may adopt it as a greeting.
shana