Macabee Gopher Trap was invented in Los Gatos. So was the Bean Pesticide Sprayer. Both were very useful in the vast orchards that formerly occupied the Santa Clara Valley. Another one of the more famous invention that originated in Los Gatos was not so practical. Actually, it was weirdly impractical. What was weirder was that it became such a craze in 1975 and early 1976.
It was the Pet Rock.
1. Pigeons don’t lay eggs in December. They certainly don’t lay such big eggs, or leave them without a few twigs to keep the from rolling away. Now that I think of it, pigeons don’t live here.
2. Oh, it is just a rock, painted by someone named Madeline. Perhaps, it is a Pet Rock named Madeline. It seems to be of impeccable breeding. Form, color and temperament are exemplary.
3. Perhaps it was painted by someone named Joy, or it is named Joy. Well, whatever or whoever it is, it seems to be very important. It was put back in the hanging basket of zonal geranium.
4. That’s the hanging basket with the zonal geranium in it, right there, second from the left. It is not exactly a good place for a Pet Rock to nest. Notice the plaque over the rail right below it.
5. The plaque identifies all three species of redwood in the landscape. The green, blue and brown dots next to the names correspond to a diagram showing where each is within the landscape.
6. The defoliated dawn redwood is to the left. The small giant redwood is to the right. Those in between and in the background are the native coastal redwoods, which grow wild in the region.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
Lovely – made me giggle!
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Because our landscapes are in public spaces, we sometimes find unexpected artifacts in them.
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I’ve never thought about the fact that there are different species of redwood. It makes perfect sense, of course, but I’ve always had the notion that redwood=redwood, end of story. It’s fun learning about them, and a little surprising that there’s a non-native redwood.
Now I’m playing with possible scientific names for those rocks. How about Sedentaria personalis?
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When redwood was designated as the state tree, redwood = redwood. Coastal redwood was assumed to be ‘the’ redwood. It is annoying that some believe that California has two state trees. That is a common them for a few states that were no more specific with their state trees or flowers.
Before rocks became pets, there were identified by their mineral names. I really don’t know what this rock is.
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Eventually, people figured out there are five species of bluebonnet in Texas. The legislature got with it, and revised the designation — now, all five species are considered the state flower.
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I somehow deleted your comment while trying to respond to it. I clicked on ‘undo’, but it was ineffective. I am sorry about that.
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Not a problem at all — if that’s the worst that happens today, we’re blessed indeed!
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Wonderful uses for the ubiquitous pet rock! And I love the redwood shots!
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These are just the puny landscape redwoods.
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