I Am A City Mouse - Enjoying Life In the Big City

As a child I recall reading the Aesop's Fable "The Country Mouse and The City Mouse!"  In the story after a visit to the city to see her cousin, the country mouse scurries back to the simplicity and safety of the country sacrificing the "plenty" of the city.  I always identified with the country mouse.  Kent, Ohio, where I spent my childhood was not what you would call country but rather a middle class university town that was surrounded by country. But it certainly was simpler than neighboring Cleveland, which in my mind was a "city!"

Since leaving Ohio, I have spent the remainder of my life in the suburbs of Los Angeles, first in Hawthorne located in the "South Bay" of Los Angeles and for the last 13 years in Playa del Rey, just 4 blocks from the ocean but technically the City of Los Angeles.  While we are not immersed in the urban area, on a clear day we can see the high-rise buildings that occupy "downtown."  We are surrounded by nature...the Pacific Ocean, the El Segundo Blue Butterfly protected habitat, the Ballona Creek Watershed, and even the LAX runway protected area...and again, on clear days, we can see the San Bernardino Mountains.

At times Jay and I fantasize about where we might like to live and the country often comes up...the rolling cypress studded hills of Tuscany, the coastline of Central California around Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo, the rolling hills and vineyards of Santa Barbara or Napa...someplace away from the noise, the pollution, the traffic, the crowds, the crime. Yet when we have a week like we have just experienced we realize that we probably would never leave the urban environment with the richness of opportunities always at our finger tips!  This past week we indulged to two events that were very rewarding and the best part...FREE! 

The first event was a free lecture provided by Zocalo Public Square, a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Los Angeles Public Library which "connects people to ideas and each other" by offering numerous free public lectures on a huge array of topics at various venues throughout the city.

Zocalo believes every city needs a welcoming neutral space for conversation and deliberation about the world today.  This week we attended a dialogue at the Goethe-Institute Los Angeles between radio host of Good Food, Evan Kleinman and author, Traci McMillan, discussing the topic of "The American Way of Eating: Is Eating Well Just for the Rich?"  This Friday we will hear Eric Topol discussing, "What Will Digital Medicine Look Like?" held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown.  A simple email gets us free reservations and the event provides an opportunity to go to a new and exciting venue in some part of the city and to become informed in the process.  They even serve free beverages afterwards...soda, beer, WINE!

Then yesterday we participated in another free event in celebration of Earth Day.  The LA Neighborhood of Mar Vista conducted a Green Garden Showcase of 50 gardens open for viewing.

They provided six area maps of their neighborhood with all the homes clearly marked making it easy to walk or ride bikes to all the gardens.  Their website identified the focus of the garden...floral, landscaping, edible vegetables, rainwater capturing, solar energy.  Here are some photos of what we saw:

This is actually the home of local Garden Blogger "The Gardenerd."   We had fun talking to her, Jay got to know their chickens, we saw some innovative trellising, and even considered the possibilities of Worm Composting!

 

The next house we visited was a huge property.  Jay took time to admire the bicycles parked in front.  If our house was not located in such a hilly neighborhood, we might consider this!

This house just had their front garden open but they were showcasing a rainwater capturing system.  The homeowner introduced me to Lemon Verbena...a wonderful herb for making Lemon Verbena Tea!

This property was great fun. We were greeted with a sign welcoming us to "paradise."  A young couple who has found a way to eek out a living doing the things they love. They contract out their gardening skills, do personal training, sell home-made jewelry, and recently began forming and selling cob construction. Here they live in paradise... on this large, eclectic property with an entertainment area, garden and even a wood-burning outdoor oven that they made...PIZZA Parties!

The last house we visited was very ambitious.  The EVO Farm where a young couple has developed an aquaponics system where their plants grow in water that is continually supplied with nutrients in the water from the fish...that are located in an adjacent tank.  It is considered a closed loop system and very ecologically friendly.  I was especially impressed with their tomatoes!  They have begun selling their produce at a Farmers' Market.  

You can see we chose to visit the vegetable gardens and we came home energized to work on our own little piece of the country in the midst of the city!  So, I guess Jay and I are city mice!  We will continue to live in the urban sprawl...keeping our eyes open for the numerous events and activities that add some spice to our life.  And we will remind ourselves of the reasons for this choice every time we are bottle-necked on the 405 freeway trying to inch our way to our next exploration.