Finding a patch of green amidst the grey.

People often refer to cities as "alive", but i think they are dead. When i look around, i see cut up trees, trash, lifeless metals, decaying life, artifice. I see car upon car polluting, destroying, not caring. I witness people whining, criticizing, having a temper tantrum when they don't get what they want. I hear sirens, car tires shrieking, a loud neighbor swearing. Often this makes me cringe, but most of the time it just depresses me. I want to yell "Stop! -Just calm down for even a minute!", but i know that i can only make a difference by silencing my own mind. We have chaos inside ourselves and it matches the chaos outside.

Now, i'm the type of person who lives off Starbucks, so i could never leave the city myself. But, living in Los Angeles can really take a toll on someone's prana.

My sister was telling me the story of a shaman or healer that lives in nature, or on the countryside outside of L.A. This person, being a powerful healer, can see and sense things that we mere mortals are oblivious to. I say "oblivious" because if we put our minds to it, we too could really open up our eyes and see. It's right there, but we just don't "get it". Anyways- my sister was telling me that this healer would come into the belly of the city only a few weeks per year to do healings, but couldn't bear to stay any longer than that. The reason was that every time she would enter, she would see the city lathered in this thick, mucousy goo. Disgusting (think Slime the friendly ghost from Ghostbusters). Just like Björk once announced that when she first moved to London she had the urge to scrape the grease off the buildings, but instead went to buy a bag of chips to "get all greasy with it". But think about it: our cities are stuck in goo. The healer did not just describe the city itself- she was also describing the people being gooey, stagnant.
We carry so much pain, baggage, resent, blame, sadness, disgust, hate, shame, etc. We act like victims, gooey, slimy victims (and fashion victims!). When i think "goo", i automatically think "green". But i bet this goo is grey with some black areas, and lifeless.

We need to break away from this slimy predicament. My sister gave me some good pointers: go back to nature, hug a tree (yes! she said that!), put your bare feet on the soil, get in touch with nature (our roots!). And that's just what i did today. I have been pleading for a break from the city. I'm hard-pressed for anything green in Hollyweird. Usually i have to suck it up and resort to talking to my plants and herb garden on my balcony. But i found a green patch of heaven really really really close by (in the valley, no less). Now, if you're from Wyoming, Canada, Iceland, or even Chicago you probably don't think this is a big deal. There is nature everywhere. But when you live in L.A., you have either:

a) nothing
b) carefully select areas of perfectly arranged
and groomed imported palm trees
c) dry stuff
d) more dry stuff.

Luckily, no more!

Today was heaven. We spent the whole afternoon on a county botanical garden called Arboretum in Arcadia, CA. Arboretum is a big chunk of land that has plants, trees and flowers from all over the world. The whole park is divided into four continents, when you can walk around and see, touch and smell plants related to each said continent. We 'traveled' to Asia, Africa, Australia, and America (we had already traveled to Europe that morning when we ate croissants au beurre at Anisette in Santa Monica).

The place is huge! There are waterfalls (albeit artificial ones), greenhouses, carnivorous plants, a lake with turtles, carps and Koi fish. There are ducks, birds, lizards and- get this- peacocks running around all over the place. The peacocks were marvelous because they are beautiful and aren't scared of humans. They are also quiet and nonviolent (unlike the ducks, i heard, so we stayed away).







We ate lunch under a Brazilian tree, which we later realized was full of bees (none of which bothered us at all). We snoozed on the grass, we walked all around. I was breathing. Everything smells so wonderful. It was truly a breathe of fresh air.



The place doesn't seem to be very well-known, as there weren't a lot of people around. We crossed paths with people, but half the time we were walking alone. The entrance is $8, parking is free, and every third Sunday of the month you can bring food into the park and have a picnic. I heard that they also have events there, as well as the L.A. Philharmonic playing during the summer. Go there- now!

Haha- right now i'm listening to someone continuously honking down the street for the past 2 minutes. Some people need the Arboretum more than others.