WHAT WE SAW

When we rose this morning and looked out of our east facing window, this was the scene that greeted us...........admittedly we used the telephoto lens.

You were all so understanding in your comments on yesterday's post (was that yesterday's?). I made some headway on the Manor photo album today to the point that my eyesight is a little blurry this evening, but I want to show you some of the things we saw when Tim took our British friends and us for a ride.

We traveled through some depressed areas of Los Angeles and I wondered where Tim was taking us. He knew what he was about. I had no idea there was a designated Arts District in Los Angeles.

Neptune, high on a building

Who? I wonder.

This mural had a naive quality that I found appealing.

Do you suppose the people who live in this house enjoy orange juice for breakfast every morning?

City Hall, once the tallest building in Los Angeles, now dwarfed by skyscrapers and in this case, apparently by palm trees.

My favorite of all.

Next, Tim drove us up and down the frighteningly steep hills in the Echo Park area and I was so nervous that I never thought to use my camera. 

When we neared home the snow was nearly gone from the mountains. We arrived in time for supper...........and,  apologies to the no-longer-living author of "Where the Wild Things Are", it was still hot.

THE ITCH

Every other Sunday, Tim appears at our door for what is listed on his calendar as "Parents Day" which is a nice way of putting it. He arrives hungry, so we go down and enjoy dinner in the dining room before we get to business. Sometimes we need to get supplies from the supermarket, occasionally we need to tackle a trip to Costco; yesterday I suggested visiting Chinatown for the sole purpose of finding a bamboo backscratcher. I can't find the one I'm sure we brought from home and Mr. Bob tires of my asking him to scratch a spot I can't reach.

It doesn't take long to get there from here, but it's beyond my comfort zone to drive to Los Angeles.  Just like his father, Tim likes to drive. Mr. Bob came along, a happy surprise, for he usually prefers the peace and quiet assured by staying at home. He doesn't require the stimulation of what I call "outside". I crave it.

I'm just like a kid in a candy store........"ooooh, look at that!" "Oh, my, did you see her?" "Can you go around the block so I can get a better look?" And Tim complied, talking all the while about some Slippery Shrimp he'd eaten in Chinatown which surpassed the Honey Walnut Shrimp of which we're so fond.

"Look, Tim, Are those strings of firecrackers?"

"Surely not. Fireworks are illegal here."

"Well, I'll bet they are.....for Chinese New Year celebrations."

We'll never know, for the area was so packed with people and vehicles that there was no place to park to get out to inquire.

Merchandise spilled out of shop doorways, with no effort at displaying it attractively, but that was part of what made it intriguing, no pretension whatsoever. 'Round and 'round we went. One man was playing an instrument I'd not seen before and the music, discordant to our Western ears, hovered over the crowded sidewalks and could be heard from a block away.

Finally, Tim pulled into an alley and managed to park the car close to a wall before hurrying into one of the stores that seemed to feature a lot of red and gold decorations, presumably for the coming Year of the Rabbit which begins this year on Feb. 3. He returned with something large to hang in our library display, but no backscratcher. So we gave up and relinquished the idea of slippery shrimp and decided to eat at Philippe's where the lines were long, but the wait was worth it. French dip sandwiches and cole slaw and that pungent mustard and the best people watching in town. Our own tradition dictates that the meal concludes with a York peppermint patty. Slippery Shrimp couldn't possibly surpass that.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bob, a little more to the left, please..........up....... over......there, that's it! You've got it and thank you very much.

LOS ANGELES

You can't have visitors from out of state and then just sit around doing nothing, so yesterday we loaded the car with people. Mr. Bob stayed home with a digestive disability; we waved goodbye and off we went to Los Angeles, with Tim at the wheel. First stop: Philippe, the restaurant that Zagat describes as "The atmosphere is really relaxed; sort of barnyard family style dining" and then goes on to say "Large portions of fresh made and cut food."

We never vary our order at this eating establishment. A French dip pork sandwich, double dipped and cole slaw. Yum. It was its usual busy, crowded self yesterday with eight  l-o-n-g  lines at the deli counter. Susan, Justin and I found a table and didn't mind the wait. It's one of the best places in the world to watch people, drawing a crowd that includes men dressed in business suits and street people who've scraped together enough for a 10¢ cup of coffee.

I don't know when Mr. Bob and I determined that the Philippe meal should be ended with a York peppermint patty, but it continues to be part of the ritual. With that conclusion, we piled into the car again and drove across the street to let Ryan get a glimpse of Los Angeles' Union Station with its Art Deco interior.

I was eager for the kids to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Tim is less impressed than I ...... to each his own, I guess ........ if nothing else, I enjoyed seeing it again. Tim also commented on Los Angeles lacking the energetic bustle that one experiences in New York City or San Francisco. I do remember when in New York, thinking that in comparison, Los Angeles seemed like a sleepy little pueblo.

Forgetting the tourists for a minute, I marveled at the idea of residents being able to sit on their balconies high above the busy street with no more visible support than what I could see on the balustrades. I do think I'd have trouble relaxing and enjoying the view.

Another landmark bookstore is managing to carry on in these most unusual retail times. I think I visited it once, forty years ago. Now I have to figure out how to get to it again. 

"Caravan Book Store: Caravan, at Grand Avenue and Sixth Street, is a Downtown mecca for rare and used books. Established in 1954 on what was then known as Booksellers Row, Caravan is the last antiquarian bookstore in Downtown. Although the shop is virtually surrounded by towering glass and steel skyscrapers, inside is a cozy nook devoted to the books and artifacts of bygone eras. The shop's floor-to-ceiling shelves and wooden cases reveal the colorful bindings of rare books, first editions and out-of-print tomes. Every nook holds a vintage treasure and in one corner, there is an Alice in Wonderland-themed chess set complete with the Queen's men as pawns. Currently, the shop does not have Alice's Adventures in stock; its last copy (a first edition) was recently sold, said proprietor Leonard Bernstein. But, he added, the store has many other Carroll titles."

Scheduled for today............a trip to see how the Rose Parade floats are progressing. Our guests can go back to Alaska in time to watch the parade on television with a little personal experience to enrich the viewing.