The truck in front of Rich's house.

My friend, Rich has a beautiful house.  In fact, his and his next door neighbor's are the best two houses on his street.  His lawn is always taken care of and the house has a striking appearance even while the others along his street are in need of more care.  Upon initial glance, his home's presence says a lot about Rich, himself.   He lives a very orderly live--free of clutter and anything that's unnecessary.  The beauty, that is his yard is the direct result of the hard work that he puts into it.  The man is a skilled landscaper.  

I'm writing about his house to create a funny contrast.  Some time, last week I was invited to have dinner with Rich, Truc and Dino.  I rode my bike from Hillcrest to his place in Normal Heights and just as I wheeled up to his sidewalk, that's when I saw this monstrosity parked in front of his house.   It took my breath away--literally! 

"We've already called the city about it," Rich informed me after I told him how I was loving the piece of...hmm...what would I call it...trash on wheels.  While he didn't know which of his neighbor's the truck belonged to, Rich did know that one of them had carelessly parked the truck and left it there.  

I kept reminding myself--and forgetting, to bring my camera to snap a picture of it.  I mean, this was something that couldn't be described in mere words.  I had to have a photo of it.  I'd even suggested that on Sunday, we all would gather around it and have our pictures taken with it lurking in the background.  Of course, I slept in and was too lazy to ride over to do so.  But finally, before the truck and all of its contents were towed away, I was able to get over there and snap some pictures of it.   Only now, someone has moved the truck a few feet from in front of Rich's house.  A few minutes before sunset, I stood next to the hideous thing and snapped away even while a few of his neighbors watched, curiously.  

Overflowing with useless junk and trash and a gleaming white porcelain toilet on top of it all, La Tacoma is now posted on this page for all to see.