West Coast Bound

From the South Bay to the Valley

From the West Side to the East Side

Everybody’s very happy

‘Cause the sun is shining all the time

Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it)

I love L.A. (We love it)

We love it

Oh Randy Newman. How right you are! I head out Saturday morning for Orange County and then Los Angeles.

I have a forty year love affair with Los Angeles. It survived the jaywalking ticket I got within my first few hours there (I don’t think I ever paid that ticket).

Jaywalking? Seriously, I was from New York City. Jaywalking is a competitive sport in New York City.

Once I was up for a job at a TV station in Los Angeles. I was very excited. The TV station itself was located in a seedy neighborhood, but on a movie lot! Helaine and I had already decided where we would live as we counted our chickens before they hatched.

The last I heard from the guy with the job was, “We’ll call you back in a half hour.” Isn’t it always that way?

It’s a long trip from CT to CA. Saturday’s flights out includes two hours of thumb twiddling in Las Vegas (not long enough to leave the airport). It will be nearly nine hours before I deplane at Santa Ana’s John Wayne International.

This time of year Southern California suffers under the marine layer, a cool wedge of oceanic air which brings low clouds, fog and drizzle overnight through late morning. I don’t care.

Even when I’ve been in rainy Los Angeles I think of it as sunny. That internal lie seems easier there.

The purpose of my trip is to photograph my Cousin Melissa and her family as she begins her political career. I’m bringing most of my photo gear including two camera bodies. She will, if nothing else, be well documented.

After the weekend in Orange County I head to the San Fernando Valley and the “secret location” I’ve written about in the past. I’ve got dinner with two long time friends scheduled for Tuesday.