During my all-too-short stay in LA with Cassie, we took Gordon (named after Dexter Gordon, and not after the character in Jilted John’s song, sadly) several times to Silverlake Dog Park.
We don’t really have these in the UK, but it is a fenced-off area for dogs to run, meet, socialize, chat, and swap human-handling tips, while the humans form cliques based on social class, dog breed, dog-handling technique and the time of day they visit the park. All mod cons available – water tap for thirsty dogs, benches and canopies for rest and shelter from the sun, and a selection of metal bowls, tennis balls, and of course shovels. It all seemed very well run, if a little dusty – all the grass had long since died, leaving a scorched Mars-scape which was fine, except when the wind went mad one day later in the week. I was sneezing orange for hours.
No such problems today though. After the clear blue (yes, blue, an aberration in LA, so I’m told) skies that greeted me, today’s skies were leaden and bulging, and eventually belched forth a rain storm of the kind that has people in the UK standing by the window muttering, “Bloody hell…”. This continued for a good while, forcing us to relax around the apartment, listening to Yo La Tengo and Calexico, who have grown on me as a result.
Later on, when the heavens closed, we went for sushi, sashimi, sake and, er, tempura, at an unassuming little place on a parking lot. Small and cramped, but the food was delicious, and another first, my first sake, was very welcome.
Author’s Note: For some reason, I couldn’t think of the word ‘tempura’. I kept thinking the word I wanted began with ‘v’, and that meant I kept thinking of Ventnor.