regionalism, front yards

There's an East Boston (where I grew up); there's a South Boston (our blood rivals);
there's a North End (which is south of East Boston); there's a South End (which is
west of South Boston); there used to be a West End (urban renewal renewed it
out of existence); but there ain't no West Boston.

that would be kinda like East Dodge City...

I hesitate to show all these photos, but it is the accumulation of them that tells the tale. These are taken by me in my former in laws' mobile home village, back in the early eighties. I walked the area with no other people over that time visible in the neighborhood of many blocks. No pets of any kind allowed. No children, although they were allowed to visit for short periods. There was something surreal about it, and we visited for many years, many times.

I've changed my thinking, at least somewhat, since I took the photos. Back then, I wasn't all against what my in laws' called 'coaches' but I wasn't all gung ho either. And I was snotty in my mind re the yard decorations. I've gotten smarter about the travails of home care for the aging and/or disabled or those who choose to spend their time in other ways. I was wild against the photo I did throw out, the one of the pollarded mulberry trees, which I thought of as chicken sticks, extremely ugly, even though I later learned that's a respected type of pruning. Well, I still do think of pollarding as brutalizing in a fashion. And I take the trees as bringing allergy to the area (could be wrong). Anyway, these are to a large extent winter abodes for "snow birds" - though not all of the units had people who lived there part tim -, and the landscaping makes more sense in that context.

Now I'm pretty interested in the ideas - at least of the smallish, light, moveable homes - for living lightly on the land.

I should add, all these places look sparkling in contrast to my present yard, so this isn't meant to be snarky.

There are 13 photos, so probably 3 separate posts. Focus is a little weird, as the photos were laminated on foam core and are warped some now.


Curves




bottle plant




ducks and rabbits




horsies




Figures

boy figurine




pot in the oval




rocks dropped from sky
(this is a prevalent mode here in new mexico landscaping too, although here they are more rocks of the same hue)




wishing well with Opuntia
gads, that's fuzzy/warped, but I don't want to rescan it..

resting deer




grazing deer




wind mill




the classic, the 'bronzed' lawn mower



violets in space

I love the bronzed lawn mover!

Real Mormons have backpacks.

Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua:

Oooooof!

Not kidding. It was put for halloween in a house in Juárez. Eeringly appropiate.

Wow! Just seeing these.

I'm assuming that the greenish stuff is astroturf rather than actual grass?

The bronzed lawnmower, in context, is indeed priceless.

I think it was painted grave stuck into concrete..

those pictures are indeed surreal.

oh god, I got sent a catalogue at work a couple of years back, that was full of this kind of stuff.

even worse were these faces you were supposed to put on a tree trunk, like tormented souls.

I'll have to find that website.