South of Sunnyside

Kim and I stopped by Belmont Nursery on our way home from breakfast. This is probably one of those “I guess you should have been there” stories, but if you know Kim and me well, I’m sure you can imagine the tone and facial expressions in the following conversation.

Me: We’re looking for a fast-growing shade tree to plant next to our front bedroom.

Nursery owner: Well, how tall do you want it to grow? How tall is your house?

Me: (thinking)

Kim: (in serious tone) Well, it’s a single-story house. I don’t know—100 feet?

Nursery owner: (looking at Kim like she’s crazy)

Me: (looking at Kim like she’s crazy)

Kim: (with a look that acknowledges that her calculations are a little off) Oh, no, it’s probably more like 65 feet.

Me: Let’s go with 15-20 feet.

Nursery owner: Right. Well, maples are probably what you’re looking for.

I love her more every day.

So, last night was Fresno’s fourth installment of Pecha Kucha. I’ve now attended three, and have presented at two.

I’m not one to brag, but my presentation—an exploration of many themes I’ve written about on South of Sunnyside, actually—was pretty spectacular. No, really: I don’t know of anyone that can talk that fast for 6:40 straight.

In case you missed it…well, you missed it. Still, I’ve embedded my presentation below; it may not make much sense without sound, but it didn’t make any more sense with me talking.

All joking aside, last night was awesome. The talents and passions that are expressed through these events help me to fall in love with Fresno all over again.

My hat’s off to Kiel and Creative Fresno for putting on such a remarkable event.

UPDATE: I pinged the City of Fresno last night, and received a prompt reply encouraging me to call 621-CITY. I did that today, and was told that city arborists would be sent out to assess the situation.

I really hoped we had seen the worst of the housing market.

But this weekend, Kim talked to the neighbors and discovered that the family across the street is putting their home up for short sell; if it doesn’t sell within a few months, they’ve already decided they’ll just let it go.

The family that rents next to them will also be moving soon—the owners have previously neglected to care for the home, so I don’t have high hopes that they’ll maintain it now.

Three houses down from them, a home twice the size of ours is for sale for the price we paid for ours.

Around the corner from them, another home has been abandoned, and now bears the yellow stains of decaying grass. Another abandoned home sits another three houses down.

As if this didn’t fill my life with enough cheer, a significant number—as many as 20, perhaps—of the trees lining the south side of California Avenue between, Fowler and Clovis, look to be dying. I think our neighborhood is giving up on itself.

Perhaps these trees are over zealous with excitement about the eventual change of seasons. Maybe they’re simply not getting enough water. Whatever the cause of the browning leaves, it’s only affecting trees on the south side of the road. Our side of the road, that is.

April in Fresno.

There’s a light breeze.
The high is in the high 70s to low 80s.
The canals are flowing at full capacity.
The air is clear.
People are outside, enjoying it.

Wait, what’s that? It’s not April? What the hell do you mean it’s June?