Concrete Paradise

 Hello ALL,


I visited my DIVA in downtown LA today and I had a sudden realization. I felt great and the closer I got to the city, I felt better and better. First I attributed it to seeing Ciarin, but as I studied the stone steps leading up to canopied building doorways, and the waist high stone 'fences' along the sides of buildings, I realized that I was feeling familiarity. I love the sights and sounds and smells of the city!! People who grow up in the country and open spaces speak of how they need views and vista and fresh air and nature in abundance around them and it feeds their psyche. They need to smell fresh flowers and (I guess) a little cow and horse manure to feel nostalgic and reminiscent of home.

Well, I feel the same. The smell of roasted peanuts, hot dog wagons, fresh pastries baking, feet, and steam all tickle my sense of smell just as pleasantly. I feel at home surrounded by concrete on 3 sides and look up to view the far reaching sky. Its cloistering to have the sky right there!! Right within your reach! I need to see it high above me, stars twinkling; rightfully as unreachable as they really are!
 I love the slap of my sneakers on the sidewalks (which are available everywhere and conveniently keep you separated from the speeding cars buses, trucks, and trains! ~take a hint Georgia, sheesh!!) and the clickety clack sound when I wear heals or shoes. You cant hear that confident reassuring 'shadow' step on some grass people!!

I yearn for the hustle and bustle all night and I LIKE that I can get a SUBWAY sandwich, some tweezers cause I got this ingrown, a pack of cigarettes and/or a beer, or just a darn maxi pad at 4 am at the corner store AND there will probably be other people in there just as wide awake as I am! I understand the feeling of home and serenity that people who grew up in the more rural areas, but understand that MY serenity comes from sirens and lights and noise and bums collecting bottles and giving you the opportunity to redeem yourself by giving a dollar. I feel immersed, included, surrounded, and a PART of everything that is going on. I thrive on the energy and the strong backdrop of the foreboding but seductive architecture and the eclectic glass and chrome sparkle of the buildings and structures! And cleverly snuggled in at random spots, there are parks, and gardens with grass and trees and insects and even a few unsavory 'city' people sleeping on the benches!

Oh, yes, LA, you are the sister of my beloved NY. You do what Atlanta couldn't; your revive my awe and motivation that the city, the concrete, the noise, the confusion and understood chaos, the unapologetic surge of energizing LIFE, and I realize that MY paradise is this type of environment. I want to visit the waterfalls in Hawaii, and see the beauty of Ireland and the mountains and peaks in Switzerland, but NY city, the concrete jungle that is HOME, is my starting point as well as my final destination...

~Cracey