Serving Up the Mail

This mailbox on Baird Avenue in Northridge appears to be an arm salvaged from an old Bob's Big Boy restaurant. At one time there were many of these old-style coffee shops, known for their delicious burgers, throughout South California and in many other states. Today, they are few and far between. The only one left in the valley is on Riverside Drive in Burbank. Built in 1949, it is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in the country.

Dixie Canyon Park

This is a very small park at the end of Dixie Canyon Place in Studio City. The street leading to the staircase entrance is not much more than an alley which provides access to the residents of the very expensive townhouses in this neighborhood. The street suffers from occasional potholes and buckled pavement, probably because the water never stops running down the center drainage channel. The water comes from the year-round stream that flows down the canyon.

There is not much available parking close to the entrance, but it would be easy enough to park farther away and walk in. The hike, once you reach the park, is short and not difficult. The trail is about one-eighth of a mile, and loops at the top. Thanks, no doubt, to the stream, it is surprisingly green and fresh, with plenty of shade and lots of birds and critters in the bushes.

Squirrels

This little guy is a member of the species sciurus niger, commonly known as the fox squirrel. These active rodents are seen all over the valley in back yards and parks, running along telephone wires, scampering across roofs, getting run over in the streets, and picking fruit from the trees just as it is about to ripen. Maddeningly, they usually eat just a few bites and discard the rest.

The fox squirrel is not native to California. Around 1904, military veterans from the Mississippi Valley area, who were staying at the Sawtelle Veterans Home on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, brought the animals here from their homes. By the 1940s the fox squirrel had come to be considered an agricultural pest. During the past century, it has expanded its range, and is now found throughout the Santa Monica Mountains, San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. The animals are seen as far south as the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and to the east throughout Orange County. After so many generations, they probably consider themselves natives, but many naturalists are concerned that they may be displacing our true native species, the western gray squirrel (sciurus griseus).

Encino Stump

When the Encino Oak Tree was declared a historical cultural monument in 1963, it was believed to be approximately 1000 years old. Its canopy was 150 wide, and the trunk had a circumference of 24 feet. The tree survived natural disasters of all kinds. But the tree became sick, probably weakened by a combination of old age and human encroachment. In February, 1998, a severe storm struck the final blow, uprooting the tree (and taking out two parked cars with it). A section of the trunk was placed where the tree had once stood. A year later, another oak tree was planted nearby. Today, the site, a traffic island on Louise Avenue, just south of Ventura Boulevard, appears to be totally neglected. Weeds obscure the path and benches almost completely. The only sign of human interest is a flag attached to the old signboard, and a path beaten into the brush by jaywalkers.