La+Paloma+ave

Emily Mastrogiacomo Mr. Bouton Descriptive Essay 10210 La Paloma Avenue In the sleepy, suburban town of Saratoga in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains there is a quaint little neighborhood just off Main Street that exudes a charm of a bygone era. I got to know this area in the intimate way that only a seven year old thoroughly takes in their surroundings. From the downtown that looks like a movie set from the nineteen fifties to the vineyards across the street, my memories from my childhood adventures weave through the nooks and crannies of the neighborhood. La Paloma Avenue was a short street that was secluded because it was a dead end. Most of the homes on the street were built in the nineteen twenties as vacation cottages for wealthy San Franciscans who visited Saratoga for its hot springs. The homes each individually stood out for many reasons. About three houses down from mine was a house that had ivy covering it from the floor to the chimney. My next door neighbor had a window directly across from my window in the play room. Being seven I spent a lot of time in that room. I can remember times I would be starring out that window and the old women next door would open her window to talk to me. Every house had something unique about it to set it apart from the others. The people in the neighborhood were also quite unique. Everyone seemed to be so involved and have social links with everyone. The majority of the kids on the street were young. At dusk, all the children and mothers would gather on the street to walk to the church about five minutes away. The walk there was so exciting because I can remember having a tight feeling in my stomach from being so exciting to see what we were about to see. As we got to the church the whispering voices began to dim. Sometimes we would have to wait up to a half hour, and other times it would start right when we got there. At one moment it begins. Thousands of shrieking bats fly out of the roof of the church. It was a surreal feeling having them fly above our heads at a speed that seemed so rapid. Some people would scream with exhilaration and fear while most of the mothers would just let their chins drop as they ogled into the sky. This almost unreal tradition that was in our neighborhood was something that united the people in our own Saratoga-ish way. The center of downtown Saratoga had a certain charm that I loved. Everyone that walked the streets seemed so cheerful. The main street had many cute colorful shops that always caught my attention. Almost every Sunday morning my family and I would go to the Dutch Pantry which was an adorable breakfast place. I loved going there because it was such a fun little spot to be. Some nights when we had no homework we would walk into town to rent a movie. There was also a little bagel store called Blue Rock Shoots that my mom (who was also the school librarian), my sister, and I would go to after school sometimes. I loved all of these little stores because they had such character. My mom sent my sister and me downtown to the market to buy potatoes along with a couple other items because she had forgotten to pick some things up for dinner. We walked down thinking about how sophisticated we were because we were going to do the grocery shopping for dinner, but little did we know how incapable we actually were. We successfully got to the market and found everything on our list, but little did we know, one of our neighbors was walking behind us and stopped in about five minutes after we had gotten home. They had a bag full of potatoes that they claimed we had dropped. They said about every thirty feet a potato would fall out of the bottom of the bag! This amusing memory reminds me of how sweet and fun the neighbors were. Instead of hollering up to us to tell us we had a rip in our grocery bag, they decided to let us think we were grown ups and just pick up our mistake. Saratoga was such a neat place to grow up because it such a central location that it was nearby so many things. We were lucky enough to take many day trips to San Francisco, mountains, and vineyards. I loved how we could spend thirty minutes in the car or less and magically be at any of those places. Living in such a central area really allowed us to see different areas of California. Visiting the city allowed us to learn about different cultures, visiting the mountains near the Red Wood forests allowed us to learn about nature, and visiting vineyards allowed us to see the unique parts of California. Even when my family was not out on the next escapade we still were having one within our own house. Moving a lot as a young child expanded my view on life. It seemed to always be changing. But when living at 10210 La Paloma Ave, we were never focused on when the next change would be because it was such a well rounded place to live. Instead of thinking about the future like sometimes I get caught up with now, we were really able to enjoy the time we had out there while focusing on the present instead of the future. Saratoga, while at times wacky, was a one of a kind town.