Havenscourt Boulevard is a handsome street—wide, with a row of large palms up one side and offering nice views of the Seminary gap and the low and high hills. Then there are the homes, where I spotted this creative use of a roof drain.
The water runs down a chute to a stilling basin, where it gently wells over the rim and waters the lawn. And the structure is outfitted with miniature buildings and picturesque rocks in a nice example of the Chinese art of penjing.
Penjing is related to the Japanese art of suiseki, but is not as abstract. Instead of suggesting ideal forms through the prism of naturally formed stones, penjing uses stones and models to depict landscapes, more or less fantastic, in miniature scale. It can range from kitschy to sublime. This example is what I would call homey, and very Oakland.
Oakland Geology 
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