Sunday, May 14, 2006

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.

1 comment:

JD said...

The beast must have tribute paid in the form of tourists on occasion.

Yay for summer, but damn if it doesn't have me coming out of my skin for some reason this year.