Ash.

The sky is a weird glowing grey. I don’t think sound is actually muffled but it SEEMS muffled. A strange sort of hush that could just be my imagination. The air doesn’t smell of smoke so much as…something burned. Rubber or gas or a little wood of all of it together. And this time, the ash isn’t falling like snow, not in Santa Monica anyway, and not at home in the valley. I can’t see it coming down but my car has a fine coat on it and when I wipe the windowsills, they are covered with grit again a few minutes later.

I don’t normally have breathing problems but my short walk to the grocery store has left my throat burning and my lungs raw. And the constant onslaught of stuff in the air has me stuffed up and sinus headachy.

So far, everyone I know is safe. Their houses are safe and their families are safe. But that’s just a few people. So many more are still in danger of losing everything. We are fine. The valley isn’t on fire but it makes me wonder, if it was, how fast could it move?

A co-worker called in the other day to say he wasn’t being evacuated but he was preparing, just in case. He said he had packed his wife’s car with their stuff and was trying to figure out what else he needed to gather. He said his wife wanted family photos and the like but he wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. He wondered what was actually important enough for him to worry about losing. I suggested he gather his legal papers, his birth certificate, marriage license, passport, wills. He said he hadn’t even thought about that stuff. In the end, his house was safe and he didn’t have to evacuate.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, it was an “el Niño” year. It rained a lot. That song wasn’t wrong, the next line after “It never rains in Southern California…” Is “It pours, man, it pours.” The past few years however, not so much rain. Yesterday there was 8% humidity. It’s better today, it’s 9%. Everyone is telling me that they can’t get enough to drink and I am itchy all the time. The winds have died down and it’s not as bad as it could be but it’s still really dry and hot. The weather reports actually say things like “areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times.” I never thought of smoke counting as “weather" before I lived here.

Captured.

HA! I totally neglected to mention one other person that I finally got to meet at comic-con. I completed my Palmer collection and met the illustrious and lovely Mrs. P. Now, I have a slightly odd relationship to the Palmer collective. They are all close to other members of my family and I kind of knew them by proxy, hearing tales of the Palmerlings and Mr. and Mrs. P but never really meeting them. Strangest of all was the day that my brother asked me if I had a blog. Turns out Mr. P had run across it and mentioned that he had been reading it. So the long distance not knowingness just got stranger and stranger. All that got turned upside down a year or so ago when I had a lovely dinner with the Mister. Then on the great cross-country trek of aught six, I had a pleasant run in with the Mister and the Palmerlings but the Missus was poorly and I didn’t get the chance to meet her. Now I can finally call my collection complete as I have finally seen the whole shebang in one place at one time and it was lovely. I have faces to put with names and all is well.

The P’s had asked for some advice on what to see and where to eat in L.A. and I offered a few of my favorite things. I don’t know yet if they did any of them but when YOU visit L.A. I do recommend that you:

Stop at an In-n-Out, a Poquito Mås and Four n’ 20 for, burgers, tacos and pies respectively. Personally, I am not much of a burger person but I do like the In n’ Out burger and I LOVE their fresh, hand cut fries. It’s a once in a while treat for sure but if you are gonna bother to eat fries (and you know I am) then I say go for the super fresh ones! And while Poquito Mas may not be the ultimate taco or even traditional tacos, I really like them and their philosophy. Everything is fresh and prepared to order, it’s fairly cheap and it’s tasty. Sometimes when you are traveling you don’t have time to find that perfect little neighborhood joint, and costs need to stay reasonable. A baja style taco stand does the trick for me. Now Four n’ 20 IS that little neighborhood place and they make a darn fine pie. Nuff said.

As far as what to see, I recommended the George M. Page Museum, which is also known as the Tar Pits museum. It’s very small but I think it is exceptionally well curated and pleasant. It’s good for little kids, well; at least the kids I know have seemed to enjoy it. But my dad, who has a little bit of a hard time getting around, found it pleasant too. Plenty of room to move, places to sit and ponder, a lovely little garden. High marks all around from me.

Speaking of my dad, I took him and my mom to the Autrey Museum of the American West once when they came to visit. We all agreed it was one of the best museums we had ever seen and people, my mom has been to a LOT of museums. What really got me about the Autrey is that I just don’t really have much interest in guns or cowboys or western heritage but the museum kept me fascinated for hours. Good stuff.

Another thing I like but am not that into is cars. I mean, I like cars, I like to drive. I’d love to drive a performance car, or a race car or…I like cars. But I am not obsessive about them. So when we went to visit the Peterson Automotive Museum I was pretty “eh” on the whole thing. Turns out, it’s pretty darn nice.

I know have pimped all these places before but I guess it always is worth repeating when you think you’ve got some good tips. Next time you are in L.A…well, do what ever you want, but if you are not sure what it is you want, maybe try these out. And if you have tips of your own, by all means, comment away!