Much has changed....

Since I started this blog, we have at least three ways to communicate within this neighborhood. I started the Millsmont/Nextdoor.com site. There is the Yahoo group (Mokeridge), and there is the Facebook group: Oakland's Millsmont Neighborhood Get Things Done. I've started a weekly coffee meetup that I call Coffee @ the Curb, thanks to the services of Get Goes Mobile Café, who added a stop to their Friday morning route (8:30am) at the intersection of Buena Ventura and Delmont.

The upside is getting to meet more people, recognizing who belongs and who doesn't. The downside is finding out about too much crime going on, alarming crime, petty crime, all detrimental to the quality of life. Knowing about it causes anxiety, retreat....But also empowers us.

A group is meeting to possibly stir up interest in a more formal neighborhood association, a way to raise funds, and get things done, in a more democratic way, I suppose. It's a learning experience, and takes patience.

I still take daily walks, but my dog is old now, and she moves slowly. I still meet people and find out things through my dog, though.

Today I spoke with a neighbor who was picking weeds, to get over her irritation at her next door neighbor who WASN'T picking weeds. Irritation is endemic. It's so hard not to get annoyed with those who live next to you, and don't have the same standards....whether it is weeds (which then encroach on your land), peeling paint, too many vehicles, barking dogs... etc. etc. Before I left, her neighbor came out, and she asked me to back her up. But I left, because their discussion seemed private. I hope they worked it out....

Sunday, November 24, 2013 - views from the island neighborhood

Delmont Gulch, looking towards Oakland Hills

From Delmont Gulch, looking north to the Monte Villa development

Looking southwest from top of Millsmont- a huge abandoned lot, perfectly aligned streets stretching to the waterfront, the Bay, and San Bruno Mountain in the distance

Sunday selection at the Millsmont Little Free Library - 11/24/13

Same house number, different street

I always wondered who lived at the house below me. We get each other's mail. I met Ed Houston, washing his car, while walking Yuki down the hill, and maybe not looking forward to the steep part of Buena Ventura, walking up. Longshoreman for 40 years, in the Army for six years, during the Vietnam era, and in that house since 1972, married three times, and two children living outside of the State. Ed is a bit of an introvert and keeps to himself, he says. Yet I heard more stories than I could count, standing there. The stories are there, waiting. I heard the story about the German shepherd he inherited from his neighbor, an old woman he sat with, as a nine year old, giving her insulin shots, and keeping watch over her. He hoped the job would last long enough to enable him to earn money for a scooter. But he was told not to go, on the third day. It turned out she had died. Not long after, he was summoned to the reading of her will. He was nine, and dressed in a suit, with short pants. He was handed a leash. The dog was bequeathed to him. It was a fine purebred German police dog. But he didn't have the dog that long. A breeder wanted that dog, and his mother sold him for the grand sum of $200, a lot of money in the thirties or forties. In later life, Ed commissioned a ceramic sculptor to create a portrait of that dog. Ed went into his house and brought out a magnificent two or three foot high glazed ceramic dog, spitting image of Russell, that she had created purely by his description. The land between our houses went through many changes. It used to have many tall pines, but these tended to fall over on the street, and the owner of the land was asked to remove them. The owner eventually lost the land to the city for failure to pay taxes and upkeep. A woman who worked in Silicon Valley was going to build a house but she lost the land, too, after losing her job. Except for one lot, the house is now a tangle of trees and shrubs, a real jungle. I finally made it home, my head filled with Ed's stories.

Little Free Library ready to lend!

Little Free Library ready to lend!, a photo by LISgirl on Flickr.

Today..finishing touches, loaded with books from neighbors who are moving, and the library installation is done!

improvised cat drinking fount ain

improvised cat drinking fount ain, a photo by LISgirl on Flickr.

this captures his clever tongue

plum blossoms and storm cloud

plum blossoms and storm cloud, a photo by LISgirl on Flickr.

one moment later, the ray of sun was gone

Tree down during this morning's gale winds

I chatted with two different neighbors about the history of this tree and its companion tree in a front yard that used to a be dense jungle.

Since I walk this block almost every day, I couldn't help thinking whether I would have been under this tree if I had left a half hour earlier.... Neither of the neighbors had information about the new owners who are renovating the house, either to sell or rent. I went home, looked up the parcel number by the address, and called the Alameda Co. Assessor's Office. I got the owner's name and looked him up in whitepages.com. Not too hard after all! Hopefully, he got the message that the tree fell and is blocking the street a bit. We had gale winds this morning; I'm sure there were signs the tree was leaning, earlier.

Gutted House

I've been watching the progress of one house on my street. It fell into dereliction during the residence of its owner who became more and more disabled and who finally moved into a home for the aged. Two people I knew had visited, and said that it was seriously blighted inside. I never saw it or smelled it. The elderly man used to have a german shepherd. We passed each other often, but the pattern was always the same. The shepherd would bark or growl and lunge at us. Neither of them were civil to me (and my dog) so I never got to know him. He may not have spoken much English. He was glad to have us harvest the loquats in front of his house, though. After his son went through the process of emptying the house, workers have been gutting the house. It appears to be just a shell now. Foundation, siding, roof, walls: everything is in process of being ripped out or redone.

 I can't help thinking houses are metaphors for people's lives. Can we revamp each part of ourselves, until we become new, at some point? And not just new knees and hips and corneal transplants. Can we tear down our outer shell, and construct a more porous one, with brighter windows, that lets in other people, welcomes new friendships, welcomes warmer connections, and become a warmer person, ultimately? Can we fix the supporting walls, the fixtures, and become more productive, live cleaner emotional lives?  I feel a fresher breath coming from the house, as I pass it at least once weekly. Although the yard is piled high with debris, the house appears more hopeful, sturdier, stronger, yet lighter, free of its sad contents, and I think it will once again offer shelter...for a new family.

Laurel District Panorama around 1914 or so

Laurel Panorama, a photo by LISgirl on Flickr.

This amazing panorama of the Laurel District shows all the little farms, the new little bungalows constructed in 1913 in the foreground, the railroad that apparently came from Sacramento, the schoolhouse in the distance (there is a replacement school there now)....sent by Susan of Mokelumne. I received this also from Dennis Evanovsky, who gives tours of the Laurel District and has written a book on the history of this Oakland neighborhood. For more information about the Laurel, click here.

Via Flickr:
Generously given to members of an Oakland Heritage Alliance tour, led by Oakland historian, Dennis Evanovsky.

Glowing Dog

My dog has a propensity to light up in the light of the setting sun.....and how!

Sunset on Buena Ventura - Late May

We need a name for our blighted hillside

The other day I ran into our Fire Suppression District Inspector, David J. Davis. We talked about the problem hillside, a landslide area that encompasses several lots, and is slowly sliding down the hill to the lower segment of Buena Ventura. It gets so overgrown that the view of San Francisco is practically obliterated. A citation seems to incentivize the owner(s) to get it all cut down. But months during the growing season and before the late spring inspections, it is an impassable mass of weeds, not even penetrable by my dog. Our inspector was pleased to see it trimmed down to the ground, and had stopped to take a look on the way to another area. The idea is not to impose fines (though that is a possibility) but just to see that owners are making progress towards control of their vegetation. (But they don't have to know that!!) We talked about his black labrador and the pros and cons of getting a second dog, and then I continued with my dog walk. If you see an egregious violation in the neighborhood, call 510-238-239 or email djdavis@oaklandnet.com

Estero sunset

Originally uploaded by Miwok.

By a favorite photographer from Pt. Reyes

The Shining City on the Hill

The Shining City on the Hill
Originally uploaded by LISgirl

It was a winter day when there is a particular clarity of atmosphere, allowing one to see far across the bay to San Francisco from our hill in Oakland, while the brooding clouds hover over the city. The lit up city contrasts with the dark flats of Oakland in the foreground. A ray of sun lit up one tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A string quartet on Mokelumne

Dedicated semi-professional musicians devote hot afternoon to providing sublime music for neighbors and friends.... though sweltering, it was wonderful. I learned that Mendelssohn idolized Beethoven and the year Beethoven died, when M. was 18, was very tragic. He rose above it to compose a beautiful string quartet.

Morning after a storm

I call it "The Take Back the Neighborhood" walk

For the past several weeks, neighbors from Mokelumne Ridge have been gathering at 10am on Saturday morning on a certain corner. Then, like a small critical mass, we set off in one direction or another, chatting, calling out to new neighbors we meet, and sometimes picking up trash. The trash pick up was Benn's idea today, something I've done in the past and then got tired of. Benn is the one who started an email list, then a Yahoo Group ("Mokeridge") so that we could all become aware of problems in the neighborhood. There have been a number of brazen burglaries,and we need to know who lives where, who does or doesn't belong. Today, Steve and Chiye, Benn, a schoolteacher named Steven, Renato and son Mahal, were along, and me and Yuki of course. We saw Kamala driving to work; we talked to someone on Simson who was unloading some black bamboo from his truck; and we "auditioned" a man who lives on Simson. He wanted to sing us a song he is going to perform for a TV talent show. He is convinced he's going to win, so he's looking for a substitute roommate while he's off in LA becoming famous.

Today I learned about the new chihuahua movie

I always learn something from neighbor Fred, with his female chihuahua Shelby who is a friend of Yuki. We parallelled our walks for about a half a block. I now know that a chihuahua is kidnapped in this movie....can't wait to hear the whole plot after Fred takes his daughter to the movie this afternoon....

Quality Donuts

Everyone who lives in Millsmont should know about Quality Donuts. This is the only shop within walking distance except for Seminary Gas. It's a stop for people going to work on 73rd Street/Hegenberger, and for a while there, it was a daily stop for Roxanne and I and Yuki. Since it's on the opposite side of the neighborhood, it makes a good goal (except for the calories part). On this day, we had Elizabeth and Yuki's boyfriend, Henry. Notice Henry waited patiently for us to emerge with a donut scrap, and Yuki is captured here in full bark mode. It took a few weeks, but now she also will wait patiently for me to emerge from the shop and give her a crumb of my favorite, a plain old-fashioned. In my opinion, that's the only thing to order here, but Roxanne enjoyed chocolate covered and buttermilk donuts. The last time I stopped in, the dear lady behind the counter asked after "my friend." She sent warm wishes back with me.

Dogwalking University, Missing companion

These days I walk with my iPod and listen to NPR Technology, Bill Moyers, To the Point (a radio show from Santa Monica), a lecture series on psychology at the U. of Wash., and recently found a new series on veganism, a podcast from compassionatecook.com by Colleen. That doesn't mean I'm turning vegan, yet. But today I needed to pay attention. Almost got jumped by the "white wolf," a dog who lives on Simpson and sometimes gets out of his yard. He actually hides behind a fence, then comes out and bares his teeth at my dog. I retreat and turn the other way. It was a bad day for loose dogs. A black pitbull (well cared for, not starving) was sniffing around in front of my house today, and I had to wait till he went around the corner, to slip in my gate safely, with Yuki close beside me. We had a staring match for a few minutes, before he lost interest. I still haven't gotten in the habit of carrying a big stick (like others I've seen!). 

For two months, I walked and talked everyday with my neighbor around 9am. All the experiences I blogged about and wanted to blog about (but really didn't have time) were experiences I had with her. She hasn't left her house now since mid-August. Her illness has returned and now we visit her with food or just company. I put all the pictures I took on our walks onto a giant poster that I framed and gave her for her birthday recently.  She was so weak that she looked at it once and I don't think ever again. I realize the pictures are for me now.  Someday I'll manage to get them on here, and try to remember what I was thinking when I took the pictures. Some of them are blooming plants that she especially loved, and I planned to take the pictures to a nursery to identify them. I have many good memories of those walks, but they are bittersweet.