All tagged New York
Recently, I’ve been spending time gazing out of the window. I have a favourite chair, a white chaise longue that we bought in the early days of our Manhattan life. Whenever and wherever we move, I always make sure that it sits in comfort by the bedroom window.
It’s a particularly beautiful time of year in our Los Angeles neighbourhood; the flowers of the Jacaranda tree are blooming everywhere. We were walking the dog yesterday and the fallen purple blossoms which lay strewn upon the sidewalks glowed almost luminescent in the fading evening light
We’ve said goodbye to family for now and once again an ocean separates us. I was coming back from the airport a few days ago and the late afternoon traffic dictated that I avoid the freeway. I drove towards home along one of my favorite stretches of road which takes you through Mar Vista, across Santa Monica and eventually meanders into Brentwood.
The ocean dressed in grey today. I was out fairly early walking the dog and we ventured onto the sand so that he could dig, roll around and coat his nose. Quite the fool but the enormous grin and beating tail drew answering smiles from passers by.
We watched the Holiday one evening last week during the strange period that is the hiatus between Christmas and New Year. I’d seen this movie at least twice before but was spurred to watch it again after a conversation with my sister who commented that she had particularly liked the character of Arthur, the octogenarian screenwriter, played by Eli Wallach. So, when I settled down with my husband and teenage son for an evening viewing, it was to Arthur’s story that I paid particular attention.
Christmas is almost upon us and my three year old is beside herself with excitement that Santa will be coming to town anytime now. It’s a funny thing living in Southern California at this time of the year. I remember our first Christmas here before our hearts had fully comprehended what our heads had already understood; that we’d put the East Coast and Europe down, at least for a while .
I was driving along the other day in Santa Monica- can’t remember where I was going- the lavender dreaminess of the place will do that to you. Suddenly up ahead at the end of the street in the distance I saw the ocean gleaming mischievous and silvery bright in the early afternoon sun. Just knowing that it’s there, lurking playfully, is a whimsical feeling.
As temperatures rise to an uncomfortable pitch in the height of summer here in LA, I often find myself slipping backwards through the humidity to the first months of our American adventure and the electric heat of that Manhattan summer.
Eight years of memories and experiences - like looking though a kaleidoscope. The family who moved from London to Manhattan is a far away remembrance and yet it feels like only yesterday that we arrived in the searing heat of a New York summer. The elusive ghost of time past that slips away when one tries to fix upon it.
