i found some nature

In one of my early LA adventures, Andy & I went for a mystery drive. It was about 6pm and we thought we'd head west to watch the sunset. Living in the Valley I assumed we'd eventually reach the edge of the mountains that encompass this valley. And from there I thought chances would be good that we could park somewhere and catch a gorgeous California sunset.

I wasn't too far off re: my geography. We drove maybe 20 minutes and we reached a higher elevation. We stumbled upon what looked like a state park. We parked in the park's parking lot. (ok, that was a fun use of the word park, but I'll stop now.)

We got out and looked to see the beautiful valley behind and below us. Ahead of us were yellow and brown grassy covered hills--mighty hills. I suppose these were part of the mountains. It was picturesque in a new kind of way. This was something I had not experienced before.

As we headed down a dirt path I was immediately struck by how dry everything was. The dirt was more like dust than dirt. It hadn't seen a drop of moisture in months, or so it appeared. As we walked, we stirred up little dust clouds with our feet. I could feel the dust/dirt on my face, in my mouth and on my eyeballs. Very weird sensation.

My second impression of this place was the silence that it held. It was....beautiful. Sweet, sweet silence broken only by the song of crickets, the flutter of birds' wings, and distant voices of hikers on the next hill. I stopped on the path and watched the silence just happen. It brought tears to my eyes. I felt Rob's spirit--my early hiking partner and Nature Boy extraordinaire. He would be happy that I had found some nature again.

Andy came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed a tear as it ran down my dusty cheek. We held hands and walked further down the path, talking a little and half listening for the rustling of rattlesnakes. I was not dressed for this. I'd worn flip flops which had now turned light grey from the dust. Ewww.

At one point on the path I caught the distinct scent of licorice. I commented, but Andy couldn't smell it. I would have thought it was my imagination, but at that same spot on the way back I smelled it again. I decided that anise must be growing wild there. Very cool. I think I must have been a bloodhound in a past life. I can detect the slightest scent.

It was hot. And dry. Who would be stupid enough to embark on this hike without bottled water? Us. In our defense, we were simply looking for a sunset. Because it was so damn hot and dry, we left before the sunset made its stand. Oh well. But on this adventure we found so much more than we expected. And the 6 pack of ice cold beer we bought at BevMo on the way home wasn't bad either!