Interesting Local Sights 3: Reminders

The previous two posts have been about the quirkiness or funkiness of Long Beach's personality, I suppose, and about their desire to beautify their town. There are some things that are in odd spots, things that are still in use today but are a throwback in a sense, especially compared to the beatification efforts exacted in other places.

In this first picture, if you look close enough, you can see one on the left side, just below the horizontal halfway line, and two more on the right, above the horizontal halfway line:



If you noticed the oil jack-pumps, then you have the eagle-eye. While they're not everywhere, by any means, when you come across them in a neighborhood, you're struck. Here you are, you think, in a cool Southern California beach town,the weather's nice, palm trees everywhere, the beach close by, venues and a thriving scene, and you turn a corner into a nice bungalow style neighborhood that's lush with growth, and at the end of the street, an oil jack-pump. It's disarming.



Most of these pictures are from the hill surrounding Signal Hill, or up on Signal Hill, but seeing as how that was a huge oil field back in the day, it makes sense that it's still producing a tiny bit.





It's part of Long Beach's character, and can't be dismissed, but it's not intrusive, and it doesn't ever smell like tar or petroleum refining like Vallejo. Just one of those things.