On Saturday I did a "fly in/fly out on the same day" trip to Ontario, California make a presentation at a conference.
I think I'm still not quite recovered. It's not that I'm tired. Sure, it was a long day, but I was home before 10pm and I slept in on Sunday. It's not that the presentation was that difficult or stressful - the presentation went off without a hitch, It's my sinuses, you see.
I haven't been to the L.A. basin in more than 10 years. The last time I was down there, I recall cresting the hill at the top of the Grapevine on I-5 and looking down at the ocean of brown, cruddy air lapping at the crest of the mountains. I distinctly recall thinking, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?" Fast forward a decade. I'm sitting on an airplane flying south over the mountains looking out the window. Oh, look. What a pretty lake. Nice trees. I bet those houses down there are expensive. About then, I notice the ridgeline that separates the north side of the mountains from the slope leading down into the valley. Lapping right up against the ridgetop is a veritable sea of smog. The exact same thought popped into my head, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?"
Once I stepped out of the Ontario airport terminal, my sinuses swelled up and I started sneezing. I could see the air. It's one thing when one can see the air on a misty Portland winter morning or the air on a sultry humid summer Boston afternoon - that's plain old-fashioned (and harmless) dihydrogen oxide floating around up there. It can be a bit unpleasant, but at least it's completely natural. But when one looks out and can see the man-made pollutants clogging the air ... well, that's a wholly different thing. Apparently my sinuses think the same thing. They responded rather violently. Forty-eight hours later, they're still trying to flush out the crud I sucked in while trying to breathe that artificial soup.
Why on earth would however many million people choose to live in that?
Monday, October 2
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I SO agree. I cannot stand the notion of living in Southern California for that and so many other reasons.
ReplyDeleteMaybe after 50 years of hydrogen-powered cars. And if they do something about that endless, infernal, boring, ridiculous sprawl. Oh, and the traffic. And freeways. And shallow people. Maybe then.
(I'd consider San Diego, actually.)
I don't want to trash L.A. ... I'm sure there have to be many desirable qualities to the region, but ye gods, people! Learn a little urban planning would you? There's more to life than strip malls, freeways, plastic surgery, and empty-headed pop culture icons.
ReplyDeleteI was in L.A. during an El Nino year. Everything was green and the air was clear.
ReplyDeleteMy friends stressed that this was not L.A.
I love cities. I even love them when they're dirty, like New York and Paris. They're rich and dense like a good cake. But these sprawling messes like L.A. (and to a lesser extent Houston and Columbus)... no thank you. What's the point of putting everything in the same place if you can't walk there?
I was only in LA for a couple hours, several years ago. The weather was merciful, and the smell of copious amounts of Mexican food (we were in a market plaza near the train station) drove off most of the pollution.
ReplyDeleteCleveland was terrible, though. My digestive system began to rebel after even a few minutes outdoors.