From the Left Coast

Hello from California!

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like, since I forgot my parents have a dial-up connection, which is another way of saying 'waiting several pained minutes for each page to refresh.' Sigh.

It’s cold and green here, sunny and in the 60’s during the day and dropping to the 40’s at night. I’ve been swaddling myself with layers of sweatshirts and sweatpants.

My mother and I visited San Juan Capistrano yesterday, a small town a couple hours south of where they live, near Santa Monica. I drove. We hit slow traffic many times for no reason at all in both directions, so the trip took much longer than planned.

We didn’t know much about San Juan Capistrano beforehand, except that there was a historic Mission there known for the swallows that visit and a library designed in the 80’s by Michael Graves. The mission is surprisingly large and pretty, a rambling brick skeleton of the complex it once was. There was a walking tour, a chapel, a spacious courtyard and fountains filled with huge koi.

The best part about the trip was walking around, looking for a place for lunch. I turned down a couple overpriced cafes and a Mexican steak house before discovering a Mexican eatery tucked away in a mall. Tiled over and colorful, they offered plates of tamales, burritos and sopas. All the dishes came with fresh limes, hot sauces, Mexican rice and red beans. Jugs full of fresh fruit juices, like papaya, pineapple and watermelon, were displayed in a row. There was even a drink made from rice.

I don’t understand the California mentality of driving over an hour, often in traffic to a pretty town to get out and walk around, only to get back in the car and doing it again. To my pedestrian mentality, it is quite bizarre.

I'm off on the plane soon and I'll be back to NYC tomorrow. Hurrah!

Photos by myself in California.