pull up a chair

in which we lolligag about palms and pools, stalk might-be movie stars, and otherwise romp amid the landscape that gave us avocado toast…

greetings from l.a., where we’ve dipped out of march’s chicago madness (the town that turns the river shamrock green, a hue that’s always struck me as just this side of toxic waste), and traded it for the antics of Oscar countdown in a town where film is king. (let us ignore the rising fear that Iranian drones will be flung this way from just offshore this weekend.)

because in our old house we seem not to have a script for travels that comes without some twist or turn, i kicked off this adventure the day before our flight by suddenly being unable to put an ounce of weight on my left leg, so off they swooped me to the place for urgent remedy, which outfitted me with a walker that’s a complete replica of the one my mama pushes.

advantage to traveling with orthopedic appendage: early boarding; kindly sympathetic smiles all along the way.

disadvantages: slows down every trip from point A to point B; all but erases your husband’s plot to hike halfway up what we midwesterners consider a mountain to pose beside the Hollywood sign.

but we push on, and do not let our two-wheeled crutch get in our way.

if i’ve absorbed any truth these past few years it’s do not, do not let life’s curves knock you back (not too hard anyway). it’s seize the day, baby! grab that bovine by the horns. and i am here to tell you: l.a. by walker is quite an anomaly. (pewter hair, though, might be the thing that makes me most stand out here where nearly every body is lithe, lean, and tv ready.

for the Queen of homebodies, i might finally be starting to catch the travel bug, as i find myself slipping effortlessly into the role of urban anthropologist-slash-unadulterated marveler at the infinite ways humans express their genius, their innate goodness, and their knack for invention. (helps to travel with a guy who has a sixth sense for sniffing out one-of-a-kind quirky inns that fuel my every ampule of delight.)

before i amble into the sunrise, let’s riffle through the photo album and leave you with a few….

(in odd particular order: our westwood home away from home; driverless cars intersecting with other driverless cars (the lanes abound with driverlessness here); UCLA’s botanical garden where hummingbirds abound (and a walker walk away); ruins of pacific palisades wildfire; and a string of Hollywood legends—the sign, the apple pan, dodger stadium (my mate poked through every nook and cranny in a three-hour walk-through with the stadium architect); Getty villa; and somewhere in there the most sumptuous whole roasted cauliflower this side of Eden….)

and with that, sweet loves, i’ll save deep thoughts and poetries for next week when home sweet home.

what stirs you most when you board a plane and step beyond your comfort zone?

note to those who might think we’re clocking in late here at the chair: we’ve risen well before sunrise here in the city of angels, but given that the sun must muscle its way across some distance before casting shadow on the pacific, what appears “late” to all you right-coasters and midlanders (who’ve been frolicking in sunlight for hours now), is in fact in sync with the rising of the California sun….