One of the things we love about the West coast is how much its residents seem to love their open spaces. During our time in L.A.’s Griffith Park, we estimated that locals outnumbered us visitors by at least three to one. We understand the attraction.
If we were going to be serious about stalking L.A. celebrity sites, and why wouldn’t we be, we couldn’t leave town without taking a trip to Hollywood Boulevard. After all, most celebrities of any stature have made their own pilgrimage up the red-carpeted Boulevard to the Dolby Theater on Oscar night.
Someone once asked us how we choose the things we do in the various places we visit. In some ways, I think that question has it backwards; the things we do largely choose us.
We’re fortunate in that we really do enjoy most activities and environments. In cities we’ll busy ourselves with architecture, museums, culture, and history. Elsewhere we’ll go hiking, or caving, or kayaking, or, really whatever happens to seem interesting at the moment. In short, we’ll do whatever there is to do in whatever location we happen to be. More than us choosing things to do, we mostly let each destination decide for us.
That is precisely how we ended up standing in front of a pink house at 3319 E. 1st Street, in Long Beach, CA.
When Lithuanian born artist Jacques Lipchitz dedicated his masterwork Peace on Earth at Los Angeles’ Music Center he set a high standard for success. Of the ten-ton bronze statue depicting a dove delivering the spirit of peace to the world he said: “if peace does not come, it is bad sculpture.”
With those nine words Mr. Lipchitz both understated his accomplishment and simultaneously overstated the ability of art to affect human nature. Perhaps it would have been more fitting, albeit less hopeful, to call it a perpetual work in progress.
Torrey Pines Nature Reserve
That’s at least what our helpful campground host informed us while pointing out nearby locations on her San Diego map. And while the comment is true only in the same sense that all roads everywhere eventually lead to a beach, we nonetheless found ourselves repeatedly back at the water’s edge regardless of where we originally intended to go.
Everywhere Once 