Wombats in Venice

Business travel took me across the country and I ended up in Los Angeles during a time when a large forest fire coated the northern horizon with a thick ridge of smoke.  Looking toward the downtown, the skyscrapers floated in a mist of gray.  Soon I got into town and the air didn't seem that bad all things considered. 

My last wombat meet had been last year around the time of the economic meltdown in a funky area of LA, so the Queen's invitation to head west to her stomping ground of Venice sounded just fine. 

I picked up a rental car at a hotel nearby, then popped onto the highway to join the early evening traffic.   It felt a bit like being in a complicated game of car pinball, with 5 lanes of traffic and cars jockeying for position and switching lanes at will.   But the road got quieter after I passed the I-405 intersection and I was soon on the streets near the shore. 

About ten minutes later, I'd found the correct intersection and started looking for a parking spot.  After looping around the neighborhood, I saw an empty spot and settled in.  

There was nothing fancy about this neighborhood, which had a mix of residences and small businesses.  We were scheduled to meet at a wine bar -- actually a wine store which had morphed into a popular small restaurant -- but I wasn't sure I was there until I saw Lisa from the wombats.  And beside her, Cathy M., who I'd never met in person before this.  No matter, we all knew each other very well from two years online in the wombats and exchanged hugs all the way around. 

So we talked -- lots about writing, bits and pieces about all our wombat friends, stories about kids, schools and careers old and new.   And then talked some more.  The waiter came by from time to time and plied us with glasses of wine and beer.  Later, we each munched away on delicious dishes, including a lambwich (very scrumptious) and a veggie hummus dish or two.  

After we'd had plenty to eat, our waiter took the following picture of Lisa, Cathy and James, wombats all.  

After that, we were all in the mood for a walk and headed down to the ultra cool Abbott Kinney street for a barista brewed coffee klatch.   From there, we began to walk back, but the cool breezes took us in the direction of the ocean and we found our way to the boardwalk, while Lisa pointed out edifi of particular interest.   A fine walk and lots of wonderful talk, which alas, finally ended, now under the lights of a street corner.  

Time enough to return to LA and circle around the block several time attempting to decode the pattern of one way streets and finally return the rental car.  Looking forward to the next wombat meet, where or when ever it shall be.