Today is my last day in LA. After a wonderful excursion to the always inspiring Museum of Jurassic Technology, I am spending a last lovely afternoon relaxing in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, just hanging with my cousin.
It is hard not to make mental comparisons with where I will be tomorrow — back home in the heart of Manhattan. The two locales are a study in contrasts.
Here, all is peaceful and calm. The sun is out every day, there is always a gentle breeze off the lake, and people walk with that slow unhurried gait of the truly relaxed.
In Manhattan, all is staccato and noise. People rush about, their very bodies seemingly compelled to be anywhere at all but where they happen to be at the moment.
Even the weather in NY is abrupt. If there is a nice summer’s day, you can be sure it will be followed by a raging storm, or a dramatic temperature dip in either direction, as though Somebody up there is flipping a coin.
I love both lifestyles, but I love one of them more. My cousin prefers the other one.
And there you have it. Fortunately, he’s always here in Silverlake, where we can hang out together on a perfect sunlit day and compare notes.