So much to do...

Yesterday I noticed a rattle in the back of my car. As first, I was a little disconcerted thinking that the spare tire cover had come loose, but then I quickly remembered that the slight clanking was my newly acquired beach chairs. Yes...I own beach chairs because I am now a southern Californian. Whatever one may think of LA proper, there is a vast and delightful world beyond the boundaries of the city. While getting to that world may require Herculean efforts, it is there nonetheless. Since we have been here, we have already been hiking in the mountains and spent a day lounging on the beach. The ability to do both within a day’s drive is a delightful change for a water girl who has spent the last five years landlocked.

I am continually amazed at the diversity here in LA that evidences itself in almost every arena. The variety of cultures that co-exists leads to a panoply of languages and food that is rivaled by few places. But the diversity is not just multi-cultural in the sense we have come to learn. There is also a diversity of lifestyle that ranges from beach bum to ranch hand to swanky Hollywood chic. We are currently living in Burbank, a town where many places bear the name “media city,” and Jay Leno’s nightly show and the Warner Brothers studios are right down the road. A short drive around Griffith Park (home of the Griffith Observatory), and you are in Los Feliz, a trendy area that boasts one of the best bookstores in LA (skylightbooks.com) and some equally wonderful-looking food. Only twenty minutes north is the La Canada area, a community full of well-to-do lawyers and doctors that looks a lot like most suburban neighborhoods in the rest of America with a Target and a aTrader Joe’s, but where the price tags on homes usually include the words “point” and “million.” And in and among each of these areas is everything else you could imagine.

If you drive an hour to an hour and a half in any direction, you are in either mountains, desert, or on the beach. Some people here drive every weekend up to a ranch to ride horses in the desert. Others do what we did last weekend and load up the beach chairs and umbrella and head down to the water for a day to just chill. And others stay in the city to have an early afternoon brunch at one of the many breakfast places that have a line stretching out the door and around the block.

Pretty much, whatever you want to do in LA, you can do. It may take you awhile to get there, but even with the traffic, it’s a lot quicker to get to the sand and surf from Burbank than it is from Denver, and this ocean girl is pretty happy about that.

Learning to rethink

Growing up my family traveled the I-95 corridor along the east coast more than most people, and on any trip, we always visited a Cracker Barrel. The reason? Consistency. That and the availability of vegetables. My mother liked that she knew what we were getting and the opportunity to get something green.

Now, however, I have to admit that I have very mixed feelings about the homogeneity of the United States. In am not a huge fan of shopping centers or driving through a town and seeing all the same restaurants that I see in every other town. I am sad about the loss of local establishments, local color, and a sense of community that I imagine these establishments to provide. Anywhere I go, I search up and down for a good coffee shop, and I am not usually happy until I find one that “feels right.” I often prefer the unpredictable. I am often dragging my husband into places that look a little sketch, just because they have a “local” air about them, and I am willing to take the risk.

But being new in LA has challenged my usual distaste for the predictable.
Today I went to Whole Foods. Sure there are plenty of other grocery stores around, and I’m sure they are all just fine. I am even loving checking out the Trader Joe’s that I always wished for when we lived in Colorado. But I didn’t go to Whole Foods because they are better or have better options. I went because they are familiar. They are known. When I wander up and down the aisles, the offerings are predictable, so much so that when I found a jar of 365 salsa, I hugged it to my chest and smiled. For the last two years, I have had a lot of issues with food, and Whole Foods is one of the places that I have been able to find a lot of foods that I can eat. For this reason, I love walking up and down the aisles and feeling at home.
Since our move here, Panera has been a similar experience for me. When I walk inside, I know what to expect. I know that I can eat a bagel, and it will be good. I can use the internet, get work done, and the atmosphere is fine.

This is not to say that I have not tried out new places. I have visited a cute cafe for lunch, and I have tried out a local bakery. I have also had fun visiting a local bookstore and discovering a local yarn shop. But I am surprised by my desire to find something that is known. In the midst of upheaval and transition, there is something comforting about walking into a grocery store that I do not have to figure out. And there is something calming about seeing a Panera sign and knowing what it is and that I can get wifi there.

This realization is a challenge to me and has made me think about community and comfort and that maybe there is a place for all types of establishments. I still really dislike how everything looks the same everywhere, but maybe homogeneity is not always at odds with community. Or maybe it just has something different to offer. Either way, I was glad this week for the salsa and the chance to think about some of my assumptions.