Pencil fence on Santa Cruz Avenue brings cheer to those who pass by

We regularly walk to and from downtown along Santa Cruz Avenue and recently checked out the new sidewalk that stretches to Lemon Dr. from Olive Avenue. Along the way, we spied this whimsical and cheery pencil fence across from Hidden Oaks Dr. An inquiry led to this reply via email from homeowner Judy:

“I was sitting at home a couple months ago, whining to my dear friend Dmitri about how tiresome staying home had become. We had season tickets to the opera. To the symphony, the ballet. A day at MOMA. And we had planned a trip to Paris. All up in dust.

“We were Netflixed out. What could we do? Browsing through an email with a series of beautiful pictures, one with a fence painted like colored pencils caught our eye.

“The rest is history!

“I bought my Menlo Park house in 1980 – 40 years ago. I’m 81 years old, a retired professor of art and was bored to tears with Covid isolation. Painting the pencils, with sous painter Dmitri was so fun, we decided to paint the garage doors sky blue and fill the ‘air’ with hot air balloons. We managed 1 1/2 images when the weather went bonkers. All outdoor activities came to a halt; we retreated indoors panting in front of high velocity fans!”[Note: balloons now adorn the garage door.]

“So Covid-19 has turned into a cascade of creativity that has left us exhausted every evening, after hours of sweaty work, and so thrilled we run outside before night’s end, flashlights in hand, to clap our hands at the wedge of fun we’ve driven into the current onslaught of misery – pandemic, fires, isolation, masks, unemployment, insane weather, insane president.

“But happy us. And maybe a little fun for passersby on Santa Cruz Avenue!”

Photos by Linda Hubbard (c) 2020