Dispatch From LA

WALKS

So...about that new walking trail I've found near me in Highland Park up here in northeast LA.  A quick 10 minute hop in my car and 0 freeways later I'm THERE!

A wilderness area along a tributary of the mightly LA river.

Carol and I are heading off in about 7 weeks to a house just outside a hilltop village.  We can walk down into the village across an ancient bridge, and past a castle to explore then walk back through a forest.  I will be required to motor in and out on my own accord as there is no wheelbarrow to push me around or a horse drawn carriage at my disposal.  Thus I have amped up my walking routine.  By that I mean to say that I have increased my walking from 0 times per month to around 20.

It's nice to be able to head out in the morning or afternoon on any day of the week.

My sister Dottie came up to watch the Oscars with me.  And we went on several walks.  One of them here.

Walking is something that I need to do for myself.  A practice I want to build upon...and grow.  I want it to become a habit.  So while I'm on my sabbatical I like to say my new job is WALKING.

One day at a time.  One step at a time.

Recently I came across these inspiring articles about the power of walking.  THIS one is just wonderful!  I liked THIS one because of the way she writes about how furious rounds of excercise aren't necessary to improve fitness.  And THIS one is just fascinating...and there's a BLOG to go along with it which makes it even better!

If you've been walking I'd love to hear about it.  So would everyone else, so if you want to share, leave a comment.  And a link if you want to share where you've been recently on your walks.  

happy trails!

LA STORIES

ink&paper from Ben Proudfoot on Vimeo.

I post this in hopes that Los Angeles locals will discover a new paper source. I can't wait to go check it out. Thanks for sending Connie!

cat figurines & new underpants

blustery & cool here in LA.  i headed out of my house early this morning and made my way to school on rainy streets.

caught these small street scenes as the city was waking up.  sipping my coffee.  driving.  window down a couple of inches to let in some drizzle air.

my bossy camera with a mind of its own.  pointed it up and this is what it wanted me to see.  crooked morning.  pale light.  i love this drive.  looking at the other people in their cars.  wondering where they're all going.  the people waiting at the bus stops.  extra 3-day weekend smiles.  hiya!

made the return trip 8 hours later.  all the way back to here.  home.

started building little collages in my little book.

just an excuse to use my little labels.  little little little.

these dancing robots remind me of tina fey & steve carell in date night.  the robot dance scene in the strip joint.

i think this 4x6 is going to be my quickie cut-um-up-and-stick-um-down book.  a good method of rounding up the stray bits of paper spread across my desk.

my sister and i just had our first squealing facetime ipad yack it up.  i think we showed each other everything.  from new underpants to cat figurines to actual cats.

After school on Friday I headed east into downtown.  Was feeling moody and contemplative.  Eager to begin the weekend.  Already looking for some small adventure in which to lose {or find} myself.   

 I drove through these streets and absorbed their peculiarities.  Gathered images.  Took note of which places to revisit. 

I parked on a quiet street east of downtown in the Arts District.  Warehouses, lofts, cold storage.  Wandered around with my camera.  Bliss.

sunday afternoon in LA

I like to walk along this ridge where I can look out across the hills.  I look for Moss Cottage nestled in a rabbit warren of trees and power lines.  If someone walked by I might say, "That's my nest!"  They might say, "See the green house over there that's mine!"  People doing things people do.  Looking for the place they call home.

Highland Park Walkabout

I'm still walking. 

2 months ago I would have not been able to make it up this extremely steep hill that looks extremely NOT steep in this picture.

I wouldn't have seen this field of sunflowers with downtown hovering in the background.

I wouldn't have finally, after 21 years, discovered the precise (yet nameless!) tree that turns northeast LA into a giant perfume factory every spring.  I wouldn't have stood underneath it and listened to the soft roaring of a thousand bees.

 I could have stood under that tree all day waiting for one of those fragrant petals to land on my head.  But I didn't.  I kept moving.  There were other trees that needed my attention.

Other porches and fences and fields.

I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Hungry for my neighborhood and all of its enchantments.

My very own moveable feast. 

Savoring it all... on this last week of vacation here in the homeland before heading off on my great Parisian walkabout.

bloom. leaf. petal.

Let me show you where my sister & I went last week.  Come with us on a stroll through a fragrant, textured garden.    Bring your journal.

Or a picnic.  There are plenty of places to relax and unfurl your leaves.

Shake out your petals.

There are birds.  We like birds.

Enchanting masses of bloom. leaf.  petal.

Plants wearing feather boas. 

Places to lose yourself.

Or find yourself.  Tiny universes to discover.  One after the other.

Arlington Garden is located in Pasadena, California.

Out & About

Saturday Walkabout

Wanna go for a walk with me?  You should know:  I'm no power walker.  Especially up hills.  I'll have to stop and catch my breath.  A lot.  You'll get impatient.  Bring your camera, it'll give you something to do.

Let's head down the hill and turn left on the busy street.  Look at all the other people out walking!  Look at those people standing at the bus stop arguing!   Look at that woman herding all her kids down the sidewalk!  Look at that woman in the red sunglasses and neon shoes!  Oh, that's me...

Did you know there was going to be this much to SEE?  This many things blooming?  This much sunshine?  Little plastic horses?

Quick LOOK UP!  It's  a large flock of red-headed parrots swooping over our heads!  Let's cross the street and watch them in that tree over there.  Wow.  They're so big.  And cute.  And loud.   It's parrot paradise.  I bet you didn't know that  parts of LA are home to flocks of wild parrots.   You can read about them HERE.   

Don't stand DIRECTLY under the tree!  Told you.

Are you getting lots of ideas for your garden?

Okay, time to go left again and head up into some hills.  The views will be worth it.  I might need a push.

I'm just gonna sit on this little wall and catch my breath for a minute.  Or two.  You go on ahead.  I'll catch up.

I always wanted a pink camelia tree in my front yard.  You too?

Time to climb back up the hill towards home.  Whew.  I'm totally exhausted, but also feeling a bit euphoric.  There's a combination of rainbows, kittens, and strawberry sundaes blooming in my heart.  Let's make some peace signs and go stand on the corner!

Okay.  maybe next time.

A Gallery Of Neighborhoods

More rambling around the city via my iphoto galleries.  Curating neighborhoods from former walks & drives.  In one case, as close as across the street.  I labeled them this time in case you get the urge to ramble around in your old jalopy with the windows rolled down.  Yesterday you could have done that here in the city of angles.  The air was that warm, the sunbeams that bright, the sky that blue.  {In this exact moment the sun is shining through cloud cover and it's raining!}

I've labeled the first photo and the ones underneath are also in that same neighborhood.

Blowing happy Sunday kisses.  To wherever in the big wide world you happen to be...

 

Come With Me

Lately LA is blooming with light.  Every surface tilting upwards to meet the sun. These are days for walks & drives.  To slowy roll by cottages tucked into verdant hillsides,  stroll by gardens, and doorways.  Pockets of hidden wonder.  There are so many.  I hardly know where to begin.

Hop in.  Roll down your window.  C'mon, let's go.   We can blow ribbons of bubbles out the car windows.  Hmmmmm where shall I take you first...

 

I Did Exactly None Of Those Things

It's been a looooong time since I went hiking in the local mountains.  If you aren't from LA you might not know that there are a few LARGE national forests in our backyard.  Or that several long and lovely mountain ranges traverse the entire long length of our northern city boundry.  Or that in the winter lots of Angeleno's head up into these mountains with snowboards strapped to the roofs of their cars.  Snowboarding, skiing, winter wonderland cabins all a stone's throw from LA city proper.  True story.

 On Saturday I did exactly none of those things.  But I did go on a forested walkabout.  You know...as a show of good faith.  Got the old tuckus moving.  I felt sort of like a lumbering bear walking on her back legs for most of the hike.  My friend (who's a person) was WAY ahead of me.  She kept coming back to check and make sure I hadn't toppled over into a ravine.  I hadn't!

My slow pace didn't lessen my sense of exhileration at being under a canopy of blue, surrounded by all of the sweet smelling chapparal.  Long skirted ferns grew in the shade, a cold stream roared along down through the bottom of the canyon.  Black birds cawed back and forth.  Forested bliss.

I have stacks of books on hiking trails in the local mountains. Books from a former life.  Collected by a self that I haven't been in a long time.  A 30-something self that hiked, biked, walked, moved through the world with more ease.  Seems like getting older is less about meeting new selves than getting reaquainted with older selves that have gotten lost along the way.

Maybe you have a former self you're wanting to get back in contact with...?

The comments are open and we're all ears.

A former former self.  The original mary ann moss:

Who wandered off by herself (away from her Athens, Greece home) in 1964 and got lost.  I'm the little punk in the middle who's smiling.

Living

 

Violet skies.

I ate a snickerdoodle in the car with the windows rolled down.

Driving. Passing people: 1 old woman with a cane and floppy brown velvet hat walks across street in front of my car and sits next to girl with a red plaid scarf around her neck and black bow in her hair.. talking on her cellphone.

The girl screamed, "Yes, I am!" Someone somewhere being convinced of something.

A woman pedaling her bike down Figueroa with a poodle in the front basket. Chinatown. 2 old men inside a store.

Cake shops, pinatas. Flowers on the sidewalks. There is a festival in the streets every day. Every single day. It's called LIVING.

Bill

6:30 this morning. I stared down at my nearly flat back tire.  A long string of profanities rolled off my tongue like a string of black pearls.  (There's not many problems that a lot of cussing can't solve.)

But now... sitting here at the end of the day I see that if it weren't for that tire, I wouldn't have gone to the tire place after school.  And if I hadn't gone to the tire place, I wouldn't have been there when all 6 feet of 91 year old Bill came teetering in the waiting room door. 

And if Bill had not plopped down on the chair across from me clutching his can of power steering fluid, we would never had started talking.  And if we hadn't started talking I wouldn't  have known that he moved here from New York in 1946.  I wouldn't have found out that you used to be able to buy 2 tires for $13.  I wouldn't have found out that it used to take Bill 10 minutes to walk down the street to the tire store, but now it takes him an hour.   I wouldn't have had a chance to yack with an interesting old fellow about heads of state, the Armenian genocide of 1915, whether tires are made of just rubber or composite materials, or his last big birthday bash. 

 
 

And then of course if I hadn't done all that I probably wouldn't have offered Bill a ride home once my tire got fixed.  He probably wouldn't have accepted and I wouldn't have found out when I dropped him off at his office, his full name.  And if I hadn't known his full name I wouldn't have been able to google him when I got home.  Wouldn't have discovered that NPR featured him in a segment a few years back.   Nope.  Sure wouldn't have known about that.

The world is full of interesting people.   Marvelous old growth forests living right among us.  wow.

None of the people in these photos are Bill.  But when we were in Lisbon last year, Carol took some great photos of people who could have been Bill.  Or Fidel Castro, either one.

Monday Evening 74 Degrees

 

 

Here I Am

More photos from wanderings with Suzanne.  The peeling graffiti posters are mesmerizing.  Somehow shabby and lush all at the same time. 

Here I am.  Hypnotize me!

 

Some parts of the city are dusty and full of melancholy.  Everything is tired and worn.  The houses and buildings lean towards the streets.  Occasionally a bright unruly bougainvilla rambles up a roof, over a fence, into a tree.  A rose bush blooms on a weed-choked median. 

Something green and frilly is growing high up on a window ledge.  An owl roosts on a sidewalk.  Keeping watch.  If I close my eyes I can imagine wings beating up off the pavement at night and rising into a cloudless sky.

From Istanbul:

To see the city in black and white is to see it through the tarnish of history:  the patina of what is old and faded and no longer matters to the rest of the world.  Even the greatest Ottoman architecture has a humble simplicity that suggests an end-of-empire gloom.

Blissed Out On Graffiti Posters

Took Suzanne on a graffiti poster tour today.  

I Die

Garage door ideas.

As seen yesterday in Silverlake.

Sunday Loose In The City

Sunday loose in the city.



I will catch the Coast Starlight heading up north. 



Or stand on the platforms staring at snow-covered mountains.



Union Station is a lovely book with many chapters to explore.



A few steps away from the 201 arrivals & departures a day, there are empty courtyards .  Places from which one could begin their great American novel.  Or ransom note.



And across the street a festival atmosphere is blooming in the balmy air.



Legendary French dip sandwiches live one block north.  I will go to there. 



Make mine lamb with hot mustard, coleslaw, and a side of apple pie.



Pretty please.

I'm Not Kidding

Dusk in winter California style.  Cobalt blue sky.  Cool enough to bundle up.  Snowflake patterns beneath my feet.  I have never loved winter so much!
Plenty to see.  Take mid-century splendor, for example.  I love a big glassy storefront.  Saves me from having to go inside and do my bull-in-a-china-shop routine.

Santa, please leave all of these chandeliers hanging from my oak trees.  Oh, and if you could rig up the wiring that would be cool too.

I'll be home on Saturday.  No rush.

I can't contain my excitement when I see glittery shiny Christmas finery.  Makes me want to clap my hands together.

Life is grand.

I'm off to spend Christmas with an old friend in Santa Cruz.  Hope yours is a merry one!

xo,

Mary Ann

A cautionary letter from Mama Moss arrived 2 days ago:

I watched on TV that the weather in North California was treacherous, lots of snow.  You better take your chains for the tires.  Also take blankets, water and extra food - PEANUT BUTTER.  I am not kidding!  Watch the weather channel yourself to make sure.  Take de-icer, shovel and whatever else you need.  Better still DON'T GO.  Play it safe.  Also wear boots and extra heavy coat and gloves.  Call me when you get there so I won't worry.

There Are Passages To Be Underlined

My 45 day flight from reality began in earnest this morning.  First stop HOMEGIRL BAKERY.  

 

A swell location for a morning tea latte and a muffin baked fresh by someone trying to turn their life around.  I like their motto, "Nothing stops a bullet like a job."    I'm all for giving second chances.  And thirds and fourths if needed.  A friendly young man with a tattooed face and neck took our order.

A very talented and prolific artist (and teacher) from my school has some of his gorgeous paintings hanging throughout the cafe.  I withhold his name only because I'm trying to keep my blog flying under the school radar.  I haven't been completely successful.

Note to self:  come back here soon.  Take the Goldline.  Bring journal.  Write.  Wander.

After Homegirl we headed for errands in Little Tokyo.   Straight down Alameda.  Past Union Station.

Turn the page.

Like a book, one chapter of the city opens onto another.

There are passages to be underlined.  Walls to be leaned against.  Thinking to be done.

I'm A Free Agent

The Calamity Physics course I've been enrolled in at a little elementary school close to downtown has ended.  For the next 6 weeks I'm a free agent.  Filled with the knowledge of my impending flight from responsibility I took a different route to school this morning, straight through the Broadway Theatre District.  The rising sun cut wide swaths of gold across the drowsy streets.

With 20 minutes to spare before the first bell rang, I put down the camera and headed west.  Leaving behind that river of morning light trickling down through the buildings.

After school I began preparations in earnest.  More english breakfast tea and cream were purchased, books were gathered, the bed  was plumped, pillows fluffed, play clothes laid out, house shoes located, porch tidied, art table straightened, phone unplugged.  I take getting ready to do NOTHING very seriously.

Yes siree bob, I do.

Oh by the way, one of the photos above is a figment of my imagination.  More rearranging to suit my needs.  I knew you wouldn't mind.

A Sea Of Pink

The silk floss trees are blooming all across Los Angeles!!!  Opening up their enormous shaggy flowers and creating stunning canopies of PINK.  Soon the flowers will form pods that will grow larger and larger until sometime in deep winter they will burst open and be devoured by wild flocks of parrots.   Nothing, and I mean nothing, thrills me more than spotting a wild flock of parrots flying overhead, squawking madly, flashing green feathers.  

Well, nothing that is except for puttering along through downtown last week with my windows down and sunroof open, warm air streaming in, blue sky the perfect backdrop for a sea of pink.  

Finding a perfect parking spot with an hour left in the meter.  I practically ran out of my car and into this shady oasis.  Not for the trees, not for the breeze, or perfect temperature of air, or even the sheer fabulousness of my new discovery.  Nope.  None of that.

I came for ... THE GOATS!  Just as I swung left onto Hill, on my new route home, I happened to look up and see an entire herd.  Imagine my delight!

Real, live, GOATS!  Brought in to graze a steep slope in Angel's Knoll Park.

It's pretty amazing what 100 goats can do in a week's time.

I I smiled and smiled at those goats.  And at the people who had come to see those industrious girls grazing away.  We all smiled at each other.  Everyone happy as pie to see GOATS in the middle of our city.

And even though I got a $75 parking ticket for staying 2 minutes too long, I was not put out.  The goats were mesmerizing.  

The thorny trunks of the silk floss trees were grand.  The steel and glass surrounding the park mirrored the sky.  The entire episode a testament to why I love Los Angeles.

Yes indeed.

Active Imagination

Years ago in my mid-thirties, I spent every Tuesday afternoon on a Jungian analyst's couch.  I would offer up my compulsively recorded dreams and we would dive in.  Eyes shut, intuition and hunch on warp speed.  Certain elements would get amplified.  Conversations happened with dream characters.  

This morning I pulled over and laid, what felt like my dream, out on the sidewalk.  It was certainly a dreamscape - early morning, the city still drowsy, the sky, a soft veil of light that hadn't turned yellow yet.  In that moment when I let the paper float out of my hand I understood what active imagination meant.  Imagination as a living breathing part of a life.  For an artist, maybe the most important part - the realest part.

I didn't put my collage on the street for someone to find.  I didn't know that until I did it.  Until I looked at the photo I took of it lying there.  Until I felt the volume knob of my creative imagination being cranked up.  If a bus rolled over it two minutes after I left, or if it really did blow into the Big Mama Donut Shop parking lot, or if it drifted down into a storm drain it doesn't matter.  In my mind it's  still sailing off across the city to parts unknown.  Amplifying my creative self as it meanders along.

After school I headed north on Hill into Chinatown.

Late summer in Los Angeles.  A hot dry breeze was blowing.  The air felt good on skin that spent the day in an air conditioned classroom.  No one was around.  This lovely worn courtyard empty except for a few shufflers or shopkeepers.

A firetruck could have gone by and I wouldn't have noticed.  The heat and all the dangling lanterns had me in a trance.

Blissed out on shadows and lanterns.

Tuesday Night 73 Degrees

 

With no one here to pull the emergency brake my font machine is is spinning wildly out of control.

Oh.  Did I say I was finished?  Uh uh.  Nope.  I spied with my little eye about 18 more signs on my way downtown this morning that need my immediate attention.  And tomorrow on the drive home, I'm going to give it to them.