Los Angeles, California - and random commentary

There are still things in L.A. that are just beautiful. I snapped this with my phone this morning when we went out for coffee. These formations promptly dissipated and were completely gone within 2 minutes after I took the photo.

And while we're on the subject of beautiful things in L.A., we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw this doe recently, right here in the city, at Griffith Park:



In addition to the interesting cotton-ball cloud formations this morning, I happened to see a flock of sparrows feeding underneath a tree. They'd get frightened by a passing car and they'd all fan out and whoosh up into the branches above, like an explosion in slow motion. The interesting thing was that the branches were the same color as they were, so when they did they disappeared completely. Then, slowly at first, they'd come fluttering down... like leaves with a life of their own, spinning and tossing in the wind as they fall off the tree. The brownness of the branches made the illusion complete. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I watched this amazing cycle over and over again until they took refuge in the tree as it started to rain.

All of this served to remind me today that no matter what you think you dislike about a place, there is still abundant beauty to be had.

Preparations, aka mad rush time

Well, we made it through the workweek!

Now it's been a flurry of preparations. For reasons I won't bore you with, preparations involve more than making our reservations, buying supplies, and getting everything packed. We also have to do the equivalent of helping 4 people move... 1 is very messy and a hardcore packrat, 1 is messy and a severe packrat, 1 is messy and a recovering packrat (myself), and one is a compulsive purger (Nickie). Do you ever wonder why I feel sorry for the woman? LOL Anyway, we are utterly exhausted but hopeful that the worst is over and we can get started doing some actual, you know... PACKING done. Hehe.

Departure: day after tomorrow