In L.A. gasometers were common, some very big ones in fact. Can you imagine in this day in age what would happen to one of those and the surrounding area if one was ignited by terrorists? Glad they are gone.

I used to wonder about thos big tanks that moved up and down. Wondered if they would ever go boom like Beirut! They are all gone now, we use pipes.

With the station wagon packed with all six of us plus luggage, open windows sucking in backroad dust, a summer sojourn wasn't complete until my father spotted a rural wreck, usually with sagging beams or a partial roof, and pronounced, with his best gallows humor, "Now there's a real challenge." He may have wanted badly to get us out of our suburban crackerbox, but even he had his limits ...