float on

it's two days in a row now i've awakened to a blaze of sunlight in the backyard, rather than flipping the blinds to find a sea of grey. we keep the windows and doors open during the day to let spring in. and the canyon has been reopened -- both lanes of traffic flowing again b/w mount olympus and kirkwood -- at last, hurrah!

it felt weird, almost wrong driving down the hill and seeing cars going northbound. just a little adjustment in the routine. i went out this evening and ran errands in the fading light of a pleasant day. i had to go to two drugstores to find mini-lighters -- what's up with that?

the days last longer and warmth creeps in. on the way home i tooled along fountain and noted all the different colors of bougainvillea blooming: red, orange, pink, purple. also, the jacaranda, i noticed last week, are just beginning to pop out their lavender blossoms.

the light at fairfax and hollywood stayed green for a miraculously long time -- usually i get stuck at the red, which lasts forever -- and i managed to swing the left just as the yellow turned. coming around the curve, i found myself behind a white jetta or something with minnesota plates. balking at the turn onto laurel canyon, slow-ish, and just guaranteed to drag ass up the hill. groan.

the beast grew impatient. it is bad enough that i never take it out on the freeway for a good run. no self-respecting muscle car was gonna be dogging some tourist a mere stone's throw from home -- not when the path was otherwise clear and a few seconds of curving hilly switchback fun could be had. stopped at the light at mt. olympus, i slipped into the right lane, where you're supposed to peel off into little laurel. usually i don't pull this kind of crap -- b/c it's wrong -- not to mention uncool, and i hate it when people do it to me. otoh, the beast is a demanding creature, best yielded to when convenient.

anyway, it wasn't a contest. the light changed. i zoomed forward and away from minnesota plates. into the gauzy darkness of a canyon twilight.

summer's coming.