My L.A. Adventure (In Which I Take Terrible Pictures But Meet Four New Friends & Have a Fabulous Time)
Excitement to shoot the full moon over Los Angeles on Thursday the 23rd got me to the Griffith Observatory from Newport Beach in record time.
Shucking on my day pack full of head lamp, water bottles, snacks, camera, tripod, purse, keys, and some pullovers, I grabbed my trekking poles and hit the fire road to the top of Mount Hollywood about 5:30 pm. The hike took about 40 minutes.
A lot of people night-hike Mount Hollywood and especially on full moon nights. The moon begins its appearance a bit at a time, emerging from behind the San Gabriel mountain range. It rises quickly and it’s gorgeous — huge, tantalizingly near, glowing pale yellow. I had visions of getting a shot like Ansel Adams’s pic of the moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico. It was not to be. Lord, it was so not to be. But I’m ahead of myself.
At the top of the mountain I talked with a quartet of friends who had gotten together to celebrate a birthday. Their day started with breakfast, and included seeing Catfish, hanging out, and climbing Mt. Hollywood to see the full moon.
The L.A. city councilman is in orange on the left. The rest are my new friends. Hi, you guys!
Thank you, serendipity, for introducing us. We fell easily into conversation, listened to the L.A. City Councilman who drove up the mountain with his entourage in two vans. I was puzzled by his waxing eloquent over the hiking trails in the Santa Monica mountains and his efforts to make them possible, only to see him arrive and depart by vehicle.
Dinner at The Alcove.
My new friends invited me to join them for dinner and we ended up at The Alcove on Hillhurst. Go, just go there, if ever you find yourself in L.A. Charming atmosphere, great patio, extensive menu, and good food. I stepped away from the table for a few minutes and returned to find my friends attacking a piece of marzipan-frosted yellow cake with marshmallow filling. 
It was AMAZING. Vowing to meet again for a potluck we exchanged contact info and parted ways. My BFF has already agreed to join me for the potluck. When’s it going to be, guys?
Aaarrgh.
I eagerly downloaded my pics at home. All the moon shots were terrible. I’m not being modest. T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E! It’s probably time to read the manual or upgrade to the Canon I have my eye on.
I got some pics tonight on the local pier. Check out this guy — he’s 92, name of Charles, and he’s from Trinidad. Super sharp guy — had the details on the Iranian president declaring Americans responsible for 9/11. Charles was a delight.
Meet Charles from Trinidad.
I’m off to the harbor tomorrow night to get my waning full moon shot. I vow to post it whether it’s good or bad — promise.
Other pics from this week . . .
Chatting with BFF and Frankie.
The night fisherman.
Sunset on Mt. Hollywood, September 23, 2010.
I am glad you had a good time. There is something about a full moon…
And I missed it completely.
You would think that working nights I would have seen it, but no. It was rained hard here over several days, completely overcast. Southern Minnesota has some extensive flooding. The first I saw the sun in days was yesterday. I was out for supper, dead tired after maybe four hours sleep. I had asked for a quiet spot and was seated in a back corner all by myself. The sun was shining bright in my face, but sleepy me, I barely noticed until a waitress I knew well asked if I wanted the blinds closed. My sleep-deprived self had not noticed, but I was basking in the warmth. So I said no. I wanted to enjoy my little piece of the sun. A few minutes later my waitress came over to ask me the same question. Again I said no and smiled. I was slowly becoming warm, aware and invigorated by the beams.
But all good things end. As the sun fell slowly behind the building next door, I leaned forward towards the table to catch the last rays. When it dropped behind the building I went home.
So I missed the moon, but found a little piece of the sun. I’m cool with that.
I missed you this week too. Nice to have you back!
A terrific vignette, Mary. My sister in Seattle talks about the sun the way you do — like it’s a dearly loved neighbor who is frequently gone. The rare sighting is a mood/day changer. Hmn. It’s 5:20 am and I believe I’m going back to sleep . . .
Don’t feel so bad about that moon shot. Every picture I’ve ever tried to take of the moon looks like that. Or worse!
Really? And you have the power of Australia’s tubes, technology & your math know-how to do all the calculations with f-stops, isos and shutter speed. Sigh. I still have hopes of my version of Ansel Adams’s moonrise.