Only the Street Names
Down in LA for a couple days for Borealis stuff. The ride from the airport took me all the way up the 405, through all the cities I lived in here, and I was looking forward to seeing something familiar from that time, some building or store or geographical feature to spark a trip down amnesia lane. Nothing. I think I got a glimpse of the Chevron oil refinery, but barely (freeway noise-walls blocked it out), and the only other buildings/stores were either unfamiliar or the same chain stores you’d see anywhere else. The one thing that sparked memories was the street names on the freeway exits. And that, my friend, is the most telling sign that I’m glad I don’t live here anymore.
p.s. Spent a week at a conference in San Antonio recently, land of great Mexican food and bad architecture; where the streets are wider than the buildings, but you don't have to look either way before crossing them. A cute little town for Texas, and the local swing-dance bar is also the local fire-spinner ghetto. If you go, you can forget the Alamo but see Our Lady of the Lake University--they've got a little lake whose trees throng with _hundreds_ of white egrets, filling the air with graceful swoops and glides; when spooked, an entire tree explodes into white wings. And did I mention the great Mexican food? Mmmm...
p.s. Spent a week at a conference in San Antonio recently, land of great Mexican food and bad architecture; where the streets are wider than the buildings, but you don't have to look either way before crossing them. A cute little town for Texas, and the local swing-dance bar is also the local fire-spinner ghetto. If you go, you can forget the Alamo but see Our Lady of the Lake University--they've got a little lake whose trees throng with _hundreds_ of white egrets, filling the air with graceful swoops and glides; when spooked, an entire tree explodes into white wings. And did I mention the great Mexican food? Mmmm...