By James Knudsen
The earth's surface is littered with mankind's attempts at immortality – the pyramids of Egypt and Central America, The Great Wall, 2,867,737 TAD on Ms. Pac-Man. Having spent most of June in the Mission Hills area of San Diego, I've discovered another archaeological testament to our constant quest to leave our mark in the universe.
The neighborhoods of Mission Hills are not old by typical standards, but here in California anything that makes it to 100 years is considered to be from the days of antiquity. The area is a delightful mix of architectural styles, and Southern California's real estate market means that anything with four walls is valuable, very valuable, and if you wait long enough it will one day be extremely valuable. The gentrification of the neighborhoods has been in mostly responsible fashion. I've seen only one hotel-sized home squeezed onto a single-family home lot. And attempts to preserve the style of the homes is embraced all the way to the curb.
Everlasting as concrete may seem, it eventually succumbs to the same forces that work on us all. When a new strip of sidewalk is put in, the residents make attempts to preserve some trace of the original.
Misters Bachman and Lawson were probably cast more in the mold of Willy Loman than Tutankhamun, but they were no doubt considered kings in their own little castles.
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| Copyright © 2015 by James Knudsen |
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