The Front Yard

 

 

 

 

 



 

Cary:
The Cyprus trees that would bang against the Pipchinski's house when the wind blew, I think mom secretly liked this fact.  There was also that little nook behind the bush that looked like a retarded sideways Cyprus tree that made a perfect little natural fort.  African Daisies.  Grandpa Judd's olive tree (which has sadly been taken out).  I remember running through the sprinklers in the summer, getting shocked by the old grass edger that you had to short out with a screwdriver to turn off.  I also remember a failed attempt to run away from home one time.  I packed a little blue denim sack.  I think there was a jacket, some extra pants, and my favorite coloring book in it.  I sat on one of the rocks under the olive tree with my little bag mapping out my plan.  When I realized it would be nearly impossible to live off the land in suburbia I went back in and watched an episode of The Brady Bunch to cool off.

Maren:
On the front porch there was a post that had star jasmine climbing up it.  When it bloomed it's aroma would greet whoever came to the door and if you were in the smallest bedroom that had it's window above the door, you could smell it if you left the window open. When the jasmine was overgrown, it would often hide a gray rock that lay next to it.  The rock was uneven on the bottom and I remember teeter-tottering on it often by putting my feet on opposite ends of it. There was also a pink hydrangea, and a bleeding heart bush close to the fence that led to the side and back yard.

Off to the side of the yard bordering the neighbors house was a large patch of African daisies that would have to be cut back every once in a while to prevent it from taking over the entire yard.  Right up against the neighbors' house was a line of cypresses, which offered a good hiding place if you were oblivious to the spiders and other critters that probably lived back there.  A green olive tree was next to the sidewalk and left lots of stains when we rode our bikes over the fruit that had fallen.

The front porch had a black rubber mat that said "THE JUDDS" on it with orange and yellow flowers.  We had a small mailbox that I also think said "Duane K. Judd" on it, with 2 hooks on the bottom of it, perfect to hold magazines or a box of checks if the top was already stuffed with other envelopes and junk mail.  The porch light was fake candles and I remember many times using a broom to clean cobwebs off of it as well as off the corner of the porch.  In my early days, we had a plastic basket on our front porch for Alta-Dena milk to be delivered.

On the other side of the driveway were a few rosebushes and some shorter cypress bushes to divide the yards between our house and the Johnsons'.

Corey:

I remember the black, teeter-totter "lava rock" right near the front door.  There were flat grooves on the rock where matchbox cars fit and small puddles would gather during infrequent rains or sprinklers. It was always unstable despite years of being in the same place, never settling in the sandy loam of the yard.

African daisies on the small hillside that we halfway pulled out more than once, leaving bare dirt for many years. I lost more than one "adventure people" figures in that part of the yard. It was also my favorite spot to build dirt racetracks for my battery-operated "Stomper" trucks. 

The towering cypress bushes along the edge of the yard, by the Pipcynski's house, were the most readily available hiding spot--but you were easily caught if you chose to hide there.  The juniper bush closest to our backyard fence, in the corner of the yard, was the designated pee spot--don't ever hide there. 

I remember the "stepping stones" that paralleled the edge of the driveway, obscured edges from overgrown crab grass.  How the grass survived Dad's spotty watering schedule is a mystery. Seems like the sprinklers only ran after mowing, while Dad faithfully rinsed the old red mower. Who washes their mower? And why was there a deadly metal sprinkler head with razor sharp edges right in the center of the grass? More than one I suffered from catching my foot on it when in the throes of a water balloon fight.

The backyard gate never seemed to fully latch or fully open, but provided great access to the shake shingle roof. How it never caught on fire from our WD-40 fireballs along the side of the house is a miracle of the Saul to Paul caliber. Almost as miraculous is the lack of injury from daring each other to jump from the roof to the ground.  Good thing we never owned a trampoline.
 

I can still see the wood furring strips along the edge of the driveway and the divot in the asphalt near the center, one third of the length from the garage door. This was also utilized for matchbox cars but had to be avoided when playing basketball uphill on the hoop mounted on the balcony (until I think Curtis ripped the rim down in pure Shaquille O'neal style).
 

I suspect that if I ever visit the yard again it will seem yards smaller than could possibly fit all my memories.

Curtis:
Evidently in my earlier years, I liked to have my photograph taken in the front yard--with Cary, by myself, or with anyone that was willing.  And by the looks of that family portrait, Mom was barely willing.  Same with Corey.  But Maren, and I were pretty happy with the concept and Cary brought his best whip-lash smile.  He had probably just finished listening to my Billy Idol LP.

 

Soccer in the front yard is what I remember from the earlier years, particularly that time that I played goalie and my friend that lived on Shadybrook took a shot at my goal.  I was never that great at goalie which resulted in a spectacular explosion of glass that must have sent Mom's heart rate through the roof that day.

 

I miss the Rosewood front yard.  It was never spectacularly landscaped, though it was particularly hardy.  I'm not sure why anyone thought that Juniper was so amazing that a front yard warranted 12 bushes.  But once we figured that out and Dad relented, things started looking up for our humble front yard.  In my teens, I somehow managed a passion for maintaining, though not substantively improving, that yard. I remember that our very own Duane K Judd applied generous amounts of gasoline to the crab grass that attempted to overtake the asphalt driveway.  And it did a pretty good job of turning that part of the grass brown.

Dad:
The front yard grass and ground cover was planted by the development company. I put the round stepping stones in before the sod was laid. I remember coming home from work one day and there was the new grass and ground cover along the border (It was just dirt the day before).  Grandpa Judd (Dad) planted the olive tree and rose bushes. I don't remember who planted the African Daisies but they really added to the yard because they were in full bloom for most of the spring, summer and fall. I always thought the front yard looked good for the first 5 or 6 years and then it started to go down hill. Weeds started to grow in the daisies and around the perimeter of the yard and the olive tree became overgrown, and dropped lots of olives on the ground.  But the yard had  a unique character and even though it didn't get the best of care except for mowing and watering the grass and pulling a few weeds once in a while.

 

Mom:

When we bought the house, part of the price included some landscaping such as the grass and a few bushes.  There was a tree already in the middle of the yard.  Having had the same kind of tree at our home in Canoga Park we knew we didn't want it because it would grow too large for the size of the yard.  Since the city provided the tree, we were suppose to keep it!  In talking to some of the neighbors we got the idea to transplant the tree off to one side and pray that it would die.  Our prays were answered. 

 

Grandpa and Grandma Judd came to visit and gifted us with 4 rose bushes by the driveway between our house and the Johnson's, they also bought an Olive tree which they planted for us. The roses were Peace, Chrysler Imperial (my favorites) a Tropicana (Grandpa's favorite) and a pink rose.  Later I planted Baby tears under the front window since the yard faced north and was shady for most of the afternoon all year long.  There were bushes at the front of the yard, but when they grew too large Curtis and Corey took them out as part of their summer daily 2 hours of work before playing. They also had help from Patrick Dujan and Pete Kelsch so they could play sooner. We also planted a Star Jasmine that climbed up the pole by the front door. 

 

The door was painted Dutch blue to show that we had marriageable daughters.  When we moved in the house was beige, after 5 or so years we had it painted dark brown, then when others in the neighborhood were painting their houses light gray (which was not on the association color palette).  We also had the roof replaced which had only been tar paper and shingles.  The new code was for plywood, which really helped with keeping the heat in during the winter months.  Also, got tired of having to get out of the car to open the garage door so I had a new door with a remote control put in.