Los Angeles

We are back in Los Angeles for more doctor visits, tests, and procedures, and we are the healthy ones! Los Angeles is supposedly in COVID-19 lockdown. However, we have been in bumper to bumper traffic more than once, which is frustrating since restaurants aren’t open, except for take-out or delivery. We are relegated to eating grocery store food in our room. It’s Friday, and we’ve been here since Monday, so needless to say, eating in the room has gotten old. We have tons of trash every day. The room smells like pizza, sushi, BBQ with some wine bottles thrown in. The new lockdown rules require that hotel housekeeping only clean rooms every seven days. Since we are only here for five days, housekeeping will have a bit of work to do after we vacate.

This week I have been reminded of some of the dangers of Los Angeles life. When I lived in LA, it was in a very urban area. I could walk to the grocery store, one of about 98 different ethnic restaurants, shoe repair, dry cleaners, and gym. When walking or running in the area, I was always hyper-aware of crossing streets, freeway on and off-ramps, driveways into houses, apartments, malls, and office buildings. Los Angeles drivers are not used to seeing pedestrians. It’s not unusual to be overlooked while on foot. I was hit twice by cars.

The first time the driver was backing up without looking, thankfully, I saw him coming and slammed my hand on his car. He stopped! The second time, a woman in her gigantic Chevy Tahoe was pulling into a shopping mall parking lot. I swore that she saw me, then realized she didn’t. As I turned to get out of her way, she slammed into my right hip, and I went flying. Luckily, it was all ok, but for a while, my right butt cheek was huge (Kim Kardashian, eat your heart out). At least I was able to stay cool while sitting on ice packs to reduce the pain and swelling.

I must be suffering a momentary lapse of memory. I have again been walking and running around town and have nearly been hit 2 or 3 times. I had to remind myself that Angelinos don’t see pedestrians, so before crossing streets, always make sure the driver sees you. My mantra became: Don’t step off the curb “till they see the whites of your eyes.” Any health benefits anticipated by walking or running can easily be lost by being run over.

Now to the stranger side of this visit. A few days into our visit, we decided to rent a car. Chatting with the rental agent, we found out he was from Walla Walla. His immediate family moved to Spokane, but his extended family is still in Walla Walla. And, if you think that deserves a “wow, small world” comment, just wait. Daniel went to the doctor’s office to have a minor procedure, and the attending physician’s assistant moved to Los Angeles from Waitsburg! Now, that is a small world!

I would like to end this by saying I truly miss Waitsburg, where we can at least dine outside at restaurants and wineries. But it’s been sunny and between 75-80 degrees in Los Angeles. I’m not sure dining out in the freezing weather and snow beats a warm, sunny winter-break. And, our hotel is walking distance to a Trader Joe’s, Nordstrom’s Rack, and a sushi bar with a “to go” menu, Yay! But weighing the warm weather against feeling like a target while being a pedestrian is something to consider, as well as shopping made too convenient.