117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles, Ca.
Ghosts past and present hover. History and stories LA does not support, does not revere.
Beautiful architecture, jazzing history, people who were never white, or white enough. Sloughs, schools, longtime industries.
Waste, old and long. Stories stumble past, so little present is offered.
For me: wonder, again and wondering, more. Here I am, at this address, in this 1922 building, surrounded by glory, and history, and argument, and nothing is truly clean. I do not enjoy that. This is a non-profit dedicated to itself as Eco-Village; I wonder if everyone joined to clean and shine it what would happen.
I wonder what debris falls away if we each say hello and good-bye to yesterday, and demand that too. Forget forgetting; choose fully present present.
Here in this building, posters of positive thought, printed signs of struggle. I want new paint, new colors, new paradigm.
The bicycle pushes me: accept, address, trust, choose, move on. In ten days I fly to Oakland. I feel fresh. New. Challenge and gift.
LA current, too too much.
I have little with which to feel or find here beyond Behemoth Lumbering Monolith.
The bicycle has helped me. In this land of motors, fumes and haze, I feel even more divorced from cars, more divorced from opportunity. I am going to Oakland, not back, to see what I see.
I look forward to walking a bit. I look forward to finding what more I can scrub.
I look forward to the Open Road, and my own revolution.
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 1, 2010 at 2:55 am
Thor
Sounds like a peaceful place. Thought you would bicycle round trip – where’s the adventure in a plane ride?
July 1, 2010 at 11:20 am
christine
Not doing a round trip back up as all, with much more experience than I advise against biking into the headwinds. Initially I had thought to go further after LA and was not sure where. The Bike Issues turned that idea, and the bike, around. I then considered sending the bike back without me, and nixed that because until I get together with My Bike Guy, Ms. Goldfish does not get repaired.
AND…. if you have ever had to arrange to ship something to a place where you are not a resident, or pack a bike, or ship it out from where you are not a resident or face The Airline Issue, where they will not insure your bike without inspecting it first, and for waaaaay less than it is worth, and maybe charge you an extra fee, then you have missed out on a variety of exploits worthy of Hillary! (Sir Edmond, that is.)
July 1, 2010 at 5:15 am
Bill
LA and bicycles: like oil and water to use a rather fraught analogy that has been hijacked by BP. Be careful; the Angelinos are not sure what to make of pipedals on two wheels.
July 1, 2010 at 11:38 am
christine
Time to dispel a myth. Angelinos are rather ok with bicycles, if you compare them to every other driver I have experienced. LA roads and traffic speeds are another matter. Often, there simply is not enough room for cycling safely, especially next to motor vehicles traveling at very high speeds. Obviously, traffic control via enforced speed limits is not considered a priority here, or police would be raking in huge amounts of dollars for city coffers via tickets. I imagine traffic at legal speeds would create flow problems the city does not want.
Thus far, I have had only one driver threaten me with his vehicle….a n older white guy in a high end Mercedes very specifically answered my protesting squawk when he let his car roll into my proceeding path as I crosses and intersection… with first a stop, then a an acceleration, and a final roar of power to turn right only inches behind me. What gladiator fun!!! For him.
I did not reply by throwing my steel and full water bottle at his back window. Tsk.
July 1, 2010 at 11:44 am
christine
COMMENT TO ALL>>> the computer I am on has font so small I can barely see it at all. Sorry for missed edits to clean up grammar, and more.