TMO: Time Marching On (TMO) 1



Westlake Village, California

May 13, 2021


So, okay! Here’s what happened three years ago on that summers night in 2018 when Marsha and me were banned from Westlake Lake…

Divorced in 1986, then—twenty-four years later, reunited and remarried in 2010, Marsha, my on and off wife since 1955, was seventy-four and me, seventy-six at that time, and…

Disproving the fallacy that when people get old they no longer care to… Well, we’ll get into that later.

Nah, first got to give a wee bit of background regarding ancient history, old history and modern history…

To make my point, let’s start in the ancient history department.

Way back in ancient history. Way back to…

Chicago, Illinois

Spring, 1939

The lady and boy stood at the curb.

Watching the stoplight across the wide, busy street, the lady looked forward, waiting for the light to turn to green.

The five-year-old boy at her side looked to his left, watching the light across the smaller street, waiting for it to turn to red.

The lights changed colors: from red to green, from green to red.

Automobiles stopped on either side of the wide street.

From the little boy’s perspective, looking much like a red monster, its steel wheels squealing in steel tracks, a streetcar halted its rattling forward motion and seemed to be straining to begin moving again.

Tightening her grip on the boy’s hand, the woman and child started across the wide street.

On the other side of the street a man carefully stepped off the curb to begin his journey in the opposite direction.

Scraggly gray hair hung over his age-splotched forehead and he propelled himself slowly with the help of a wooden cane that he held tightly in his gnarled hand.

Passing, the little boy turned his head, watching the old man. Tripping on the curb, he hung by his mother’s hand until she pulled him up onto the sidewalk and his own two feet.

“Mommy, what’s wrong with that man?”

“What man?” Turning, the woman looked at the slowly receding figure. “Oh. Nothing, baby, he’s just an old man.”

Watching another moment, “Will daddy be an old man someday?”.

“Why yes, baby. I hope so.”

“And will you be old someday, too, Mommy?”

“Yes, Mitchie. God willing. Unless something bad happens, I’ll be an old lady someday.”

“And me too, Mommy, I’ll be old, too?”

“Yes, baby, someday.”

His throat tightening, his eyes stinging, the boy began to cry.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Reaching into her purse, removing a handkerchief, she wiped away his tears.

“I don’t want to be old, Mommy!”

Stooping, “Shhh,” hugging her son to her chest, “don’t worry, Mitchie. You’ve a whole lifetime ’till you’ll be an old man.”

Standing, taking hold of her son’s hand, the two began to walk again.

Westlake Village, California

May 13, 2021

Point made.

Amazing isn’t it?

Eighty-six years gone by as a..? Snap of fingers. As the blink of an eye.

A song telling of the fleeting times of our lives recorded by Guy Lombardo— Anyone remember ‘Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians?’ Doubt it!

Anyway, released way back on November 28, 1949— when they made records.

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians recorded:

“Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink.
Enjoy Yourself, as life goes by as quickly as a wink.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.”

Cute song, thought then fifteen year old Mitchell Lipensky in 1949, when he had 'a whole lifetime till he’d be an old man'.

A snap of fingers. A blink of an eye and, ‘poof!’ Eighty-six years gone by.

Enough now of background regarding ancient history as we venture into old history and geography, and about human passion…

Along with more than a wee bit of stupidity brought about by, oh, possibly a beer or two too many and, possibly, a glass of wine or two too many and a balmy dark night.

We’ll get into all that a bit later, but first going back about Forty-four years.

Yep! Way back to when President Richard Nixon boarded the presidential plane for thee last time stating, “I am not a crook!”

Yep! Way back to 1977 when Gerald Ford was president,

Mitchell Lipensky earned a living as a real estate salesman in the San Fernando Valley which is, well, actually, as quaint as the name sounds, located northerly about twenty miles from downtown los angles with a population — at that time, of about three and a half million people, the San Fernando Valley; known by Angelinos’ simply as, “The Valley” is a city onto itself.

Now, at that time, us, meaning the ‘United States of America was coming out of a major recession.

I mean the recession when home interest rates went to seventeen percent.

I mean the recession when the words: ‘Creative

Financing’ became the byword for selling real-estate, and the only homes that were being sold were those homes with an assumable loan and — seeing as those loans may have been way down while the selling cost was, comparatively, way up, people had to come up with some financial means to bridge the gap between, ‘Way Down’ and, ‘Way Up’. Hence: ‘Creative Financing’. And it still boggles my mind thinking of the deals that were put together in the waning years of the short lived presidency of Gerald Ford.

1977: Into somewhat modern history

Westlake Village, California is located over the Calabassas Grade off the 101 freeway in the next valley west of the San Fernando Valley in the lovely city of Thousand Oaks.

Creative Financing?

How do I explain this?

Okay! Coming off the 101 freeway— to the south, one drives along a lovely oak and pine tree lined street with a rolling golf course to the right and blocks of fashionable high priced homes to the left, and beyond those homes— if one follows the zigzagging coast circling an island of million and multi-million dollar homes there is a five and a half mile man-made lake called…? Yeah, you guessed it: ‘Westlake Lake’. Hence, the community that surrounds Westlake Lake is… Yeah, you guessed it: ‘Westlake Village’.

So, to give you some idea of what kind of a community Westlake Village is; to give you some idea considering the financial demographics, Westlake Villages ‘Costco’ So, to give you some idea of what kind of a community Westlake Village is, considering the financial demographics, Westlake Villages’ ‘Costco’ — which is actually located in the neighboring city of Agoura.

Westlake’s Costco has the finest grade of meat and the highest quality fruit, vegetables, cheeses, clothing and, etc., etc. that can be purchased even in the most exclusive of stores.

In short, what Beverly Hills is to Los Angeles; Westlake Village is to the city of Thousand Oaks.

So, one might ask, how did a lowly San Fernando Valley real estate salesman such as Mitchell Lipensky end up in such a hoity-toity place as Westlake Village? And, in 2018, why did he and his wife, Marsha, get banned from Westlake Lake?

Hmmm?

One might ask: ‘How’? Or more precisely,’why’, in year 2018 would an eighty-four year old man and a eighty-two year old woman get banned from Westlake Lake, which, a fee included in their hefty home0owbers des, they help pay for Westlake Lake.

Hmmm?

Okay, okay already! So if you really want to know how Mitchell Lipensky ended up in “hoity-toity” Westlake Village I’ll tell you, but first…

Oh, yeah, I get it! What you ‘really’ want to know is why these two ‘senior citizens’ got banned from Westlake Lake, huh? Yeah, but…

Well, sorry, I’m not quite ready to get to that part yet because there’s a sequence to this story and before we get to the ‘banning’ part, to understand the banning part we’ve got to get back to a bit of history.…

You want to hear about the “stupid” part because, maybe, these two old codgers had too much beer and wine… Yeah, we’ll get to that, too. But…

What’s that? ‘Passion’, you want me to get to the passion part? Well, it’s my story and what I’m going to do now is to tell you how Mitchell and Marsha Lipensky ended up in Ritzy Westlake Village.

“Huh? You don’t think that a eighty-two year old woman and a eighty-four year old man could even have passion, let alone do something considered bad enough to be banned from anyplace?”

Let me tell you something! All you young people want is instant gratification. You want to know about beer and wine and sex and getting banned without hearing about the ‘How’ and the ‘why’.

“Well…” says Mitchell Lipensky “...tough poopie!”





Next: TMO: Time Marching On (TMO) 2