Page Contents

Path
Sights
Food
Bird
Birds
Tunes
Runs

9 July: Back to LA

  Because I'd turned off my cell phone overnight in Moro Bay, I missed phone calls from my brother Frank indicating that he'd had to take our mother to the hospital in the night. My brother Bill got me as we were preparing to leave the lodgings. Pat and I decided it sounded serious enough that we should return to LA. It was a good decision, as Bobbie had developed critically low levels of sodium and potassium in her blood; the result was that she was near seizure, had become quite disoriented, and lost both short-term and recent memory.

Path

  We simply retraced our path from the previous day, execpt that we went directly to Kaiser-Permanente Hospital at Vermont and Sunset in Hollywood.

Sights

  There are few sights to report about this part of the trip. Hospital rooms, halls, nursing stations, people, and equipment all seem pretty similar. This impression is enhanced by the focus on the well-being of one's mother (could there be any more important person in one's life?), making everything else shrink in size, recede in proximity, and otherwise assume a minor role in the play.

Food

  If you can say "cafeteria" and "coffee shop," you're on the right track. Actually, however, we had a couple of good meals during this time. They were mostly taken after Bobbie (my mother's nickname, based on the "Roberta" in her given name) had retired for the night.

  Lucques in the 8400 block of Melrose provided a wonderful meal for Pat, Frank, and me one night. Although Pat thought the brioche under her duck pate was a tad too thick and dry, Frank and I had a nice entre of halibut served with a warm nicoise topping.

  On another night, Bill, Frank, and I went to Celistino on S. Lake in Pasadena and had some execellent eats. There was a fine round of seafood aps and then individual entres. I've eaten there for lunch and dinner several times before (Frank and I had a superb dinner there in December of 02), and I strongly recommend it. Also, I hope to visit some of the sibling locations in the future.

Bird

  The Bird flew well. It did it's job just fine.

Birds

   I don't recall what all the others were. I do remember seeing a swarm of helicopters ("birds" of a sort) out the hospital window on Thursday. We turned on the TV to see that they were LA's ubiquitous news helicopters covering a coordinated police effort to follow a driver in a van who had apparently been providing the van as a place for sex-for-hire events. I doubt this will debut in North Garden any time soon.

Tunes

  I got better with the iTunes-iTrip-T-Bird music system. After setting several localcast stations, I realized that I didn't have to find the open FM air first; I could simply set a station and then have the radio's seek feature find it.

Runs

  I managed a few miles over this period. No suprise: While we stayed in a tiny room near the hospital, I didn't run.

• 9 July, Moro Bay, 32:32: A spin out to and as far around Moro Rock as I could get.
• 12 July, Pasadena, 38:11: Just a little lope around the neighborhood west of Lake and north of Villa.
• 13 July, Pasadena, 22:58: I was weak and only got a minimum.