Little blue dots of fun

I remember when I lived in Los Angeles, a friend of mine and I drove on the ridge of the Hollywood Hills on Mulholland Drive, a road that devolved into a gravel single lane at the ridge's narrowest part. We parked and got out and enjoyed the views to both The Valley to the north and the Los Angeles basin to the south. Looking down onto some newish (at the time) homes climbing up from the valley side, we noted each one had a pool. A bright cyan spot in varying ovoid and kidney shapes. Little blue ponds of prosperity, I called them. Pools are a far surer sign of wealth in California than the car a person drives. You not only have to be able to afford a house, but the land around it to accommodate a pool.

Odd blue dots showed up on this picture from Google Earth, from my friend Torleif's neighborhood. My first thought were pools (of course), but Norwegians don't do pools. Not the climate for them. I pondered a bit what in the world people would have by their homes and in the same color. Then it hit me: Trampolines. All the rage in Norwegian backyards. And similar to the pool, trampolines have a bit of a luxury label still. It takes a bit of land and a bit of money to have one, especially a large one, but no where near as much as a pool. Cheap fun!