TODAY'S MUSING ON LOS ANGELES
(note I realize talking about Los Angeles traffic is about as original as making cracks about California falling into the ocean, but what the hell)

Okay, so today I was driving into work. That means travelling south on the 405 through the Sepulveda pass and into West LA. You have a choice. You can take the 405 or you can drive Sepulveda. I was driving on the 405. Now I leave for work at about 6:15 am every morning so I can hit the gym before work. Usually traffic isn't as bad that early in the morning. I'll actually reach 55 mph at times. But, there was some construction after after the 405/10 interchange and suddenly traffic slowed to a crawl. Now, it's morning, beginning of rush hour that happens. The only thing is a) rush hour is not like rush hour in the rest of America. Rest of America's rush hour is normal traffic in LA. b) I forgot what b was c) well haven't even approached that yet.

When I first moved out here that drove me nuts. I could not undestand how you could be on a freeway and be driving 25 mph. I mean that simply made no sense. Freeways are suppose to move faster than surface streets. How quickly I learned in LA freeway only meant there were no traffic lights. Except for the on ramps, we have traffic lights for the on ramps to control the number of cars getting onto the freeway at any given moment. Only they're called meters in Los Angeles, but basically traffic light. First time I saw that I pretty much blew right by the red light. Point is, I got very stressed, very impatient, and very not myself over the whole affair. It was the one thing I truly hated about Los Angeles.

And I still do. The traffic sucks. No two ways about it, and the only time there's not traffic is during holidays when everyone has gotten the hell out of Dodge. Still, I find myself approaching a Zen like acceptance of the whole thing. I can't do anything to change the traffic pattern. (I use pattern loosely. There is no predictable traffic pattern in LA. You never know when it's going to be clear sailing versus stuck in a Sepulveda back up hell.) So, I find myself sitting in traffic, and managing to keep the irritation I feel down. Patience, I'm actually learning patience.

Of course, that doesn't mean I haven't memorized every short cut between here and work, but one thing you learn no matter how man short cuts you know someone else knows it too, and somewhere you'll hit traffic. Somewhere you'll get slowed down. Somewhere you'll be given another lesson in patience.