A Banana Grows in Hollywood

Now that summer is over, for the most part, my work has brought back the walking club that we had last spring. I used it for training, for the 3 mile CAN Walk at the Rose Bowl, back in April and enjoyed it. This time it seems group does a power walk for a half hour each day. In order to get some challenge to the walk, they have been bringing us up to this hill that reminds me of a street in San Francisco. The first week I looked at this hill and said, no thanks. Give me a few days to get back into this. So on Monday, I took the plunge and said let's do this thing. So we did and it was a pain, but no big deal. As we walked down the other side after cresting the hill, I see a banana tree with bananas on it. I couldn't believe it! A banana grows in Hollywood? So the next day, I stopped after we crested the hill and I took a few shots of the bananas. The only time I have ever seen a real banana tree, was on the road between Ventura and Santa Barbara. There used to be a grove of them with all sorts of varieties for sale to the public. It was a nice side trip on the road between the 2 cities and it's a shame the place is gone. I don't know why if left, but I suspect it is probably tied to the fact that right behind the property is a very unstable mountain in an area of the coast known as "La Conchita". It continuously falls during bad rain years and residents have been moving out, over time. I got the impression that bananas needed tropical weather and high humidity with lots of sun. These conditions are found near the coast and come close to the conditions they need to grow in. From what I saw the other day, I am obviously mistaken. In a land of citrus groves, fruit trees and avocados, it was a nice, interesting change. Next up, monkeys!