Home is where the heart is, so said someone somewhere. Home can be here, there or everywhere at once. Warmth is what my heart-cockles feel in those special hearthy-homey places and spaces.
For me, home conjures a desire for a warmer holiday season—specifically Christmas.
One of the things I love most about my hometown… These beautiful, lithe-looking trees.
Memories of Laker games, concerts, tennis matches and hockey…
The Forum after dark. Memories of matches–tennis, hockey, basketball games, and one time riding the bus back home from Inglewood library. I encountered a couple of Aerosmith fans who asked for directions after getting lost on the way to the show. The year? Likely 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_Tour
Familiar sites along the street—using utility poles to visually hawk wares and services…
From bug killers to hair stylists, to club shows (I grew up seeing TONS of Bobby Blue Bland flyers).
Chicken joints I never frequented, but recall folks in the neighborhood swearing those fried fowls were the business!
I don’t recall ever eating at Jim Dandy, but this joint along with Golden Bird and Louisiana Fried Chicken (back in the day), folks swore on the tasty-goodness of those birds.
The liquor store along a familiar street from my youth. For better or worse, booze barns speak every language in every neighborhood.
Small strip mall with stores I used to see each week on my way to church. I never paid much attention to them back then.
A memorial to local legends, the Beach Boys.
Memorial to the Beach Boys at W 119th Street near Kornblum Avenue in Hawthorne, Calif.
Their childhood home in Hawthorne, Calif. was demolished to make way for “The 105” or Glenn Anderson Freeway. But some folks got together to to memorialize the location where they crafted some of their works. This group—one to help change the musical landscape and put everyday parts of sunny Southern California on the map in some ways. I grew up not too far from that area. Never realized how close! I literally caught a bus one block south of their home while traveling to the local Hawthorne Mall (which has since closed down).
By the time I was born, I’m sure the neighborhood’s demographics had either significantly changed, or were about to. The Beach Boys’ tunes struck my fancy as a kid after I started listening to an oldies station in our area. Their songs sounded so light and airy. Whenever I want to steal away to a carefree bubble, I put their songs on. Whenever I want to feel appreciated for being a California Girl, I play that song… even though I can’t help but wonder if, in those days, that vision of beautiful ones included young ladies who look like me.
One of the things I love most about my hometown… These beautiful, lithe-looking trees.
Randy’s Donuts. I grew up seeing three of these jumbo donut replicas in my youth. Randy’s on Manchester and LaCienega, Kendall’s Donuts on Century and Normandie. If I correctly recall, there was another one somewhere in Gardena… Along Western and… I forget the cross street.
The Forum after dark. Memories of matches–tennis, hockey, basketball games, and riding the bus back home from Inglewood library while encountering a couple of Aerosmith fans who had gotten lost. It was likely in 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_Tour
I don’t recall ever eating at Jim Dandy, but this joint along with Golden Bird and Louisiana Fried Chicken (back in the day), folks swore on the tasty-goodness of those birds.
From bug killers to hair stylists, to club shows (I grew up seeing TONS of Bobby Blue Bland flyers).
Small strip mall with stores I used to see each week on my way to church. I never paid much attention to them back then.
Memorial to the Beach Boys at W 119th Street near Kornblum Avenue in Hawthorne, Calif.
