Nobody walks (at night)
In New York, you get all the walking you need just living your life, but if you want to walk in LA you have to make an effort.
I have a rule, which admittedly I break pretty often depending on how busy I am, you know, traveling for a casting gig, or working 12-hour days on set, or SITTING ON MY PORCH STARING AT TWITTER, but I have this rule that I’m supposed to go for a walk twice a week.
At the moment I have no excuses. Except for the Twitter thing. (Ugh Twitter.) And the fact that it’s getting hot out.
It feels great to toodle off to the library to return a book, pick up a fresh one, maybe duck into 365 … or take a hike around Elysian … try a new stair street walk! … in the Spring. But now that the temps are up in the YIKES 100 DEGREES ON SATURDAY, who wants to go out there and sweat. Not me. Especially not if I’m having a good hair day. My calculations about whether to go to yoga or whether to brave a sweaty-ass walk or whether to just not often rest on: Am I having a good hair day?
Wouldn’t want to ruin good hair 🙄
But there’s a solution. My radical move for Summer is to walk after dark.
Last night I left the house at 10 o'clock. The moon was up. The air was cool. A few last bootlegged fireworks rumbled in the distance.
The neighborhood felt like a whole other place.
I looked down a leafy, shadowy staircase, and for a moment I was transported. Where was I? Why had I never seen those stairs, and what was at the bottom?? I checked the map on my phone, but still I was baffled. And intrigued.
I went down the staircase in the semi-darkness, and ended up on Lake Shore. Huh. Of course I’d seen those stairs before. I’d climbed up them many times, though maybe I'd never climbed down.
I used the flashlight on my phone to navigate the dirt road that leads from Lake Shore up to Lemoyne. I felt like a fuckin EXPLORER, though I’d walked that one several times before, too, or maybe I wouldn’t have been so brave. If you don’t know any better, it looks like someone’s driveway. And it was dark.
I wish I could say I was listening to some eerie, haunted music but in fact I had a podcast in my ears. The Frame. I was getting the inside scoop from a couple of music supervisors, with this crazy radical feeling like Echo Park had been turned upside down.
Anyhoo. Night Walks. Highly Recommended.
*****
A few must-haves for LA walking:
Charles Fleming’s Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles. Get it in print. Not necessarily good for night walks (unless you feel like rocking a headlamp?) but very excellent. Fleming tipped me off to secret stairs on my block I had never noticed.
A fanny pack. I sourced this basic black Herschel to wear on set when I’m script supervising, and it has also become indispensable for hiking. The 6.75” x 10” size easily fits my phone, sunglasses, Vitamin E Stick, a Pilot Precise, a lightweight Moleskine, keys, almonds or cashews or an apple, a few dollars in cash in case of tacos. The Secret Stairs book doesn’t quite fit, but I hold that in my hand to navigate anyway.
A fancy pair of buds. Ignoring my squawks of protest ($79?!) R replaced my dead earbuds with Apple’s In-Ear Headphones, which are really just earbuds with squishy jelly-fish attachments that make them more comfy. I guess the sound quality has improved too? Can’t say I’ve noticed, but I appreciate that they aren’t constantly falling out of my ears.
I have a rule, which admittedly I break pretty often depending on how busy I am, you know, traveling for a casting gig, or working 12-hour days on set, or SITTING ON MY PORCH STARING AT TWITTER, but I have this rule that I’m supposed to go for a walk twice a week.
At the moment I have no excuses. Except for the Twitter thing. (Ugh Twitter.) And the fact that it’s getting hot out.
It feels great to toodle off to the library to return a book, pick up a fresh one, maybe duck into 365 … or take a hike around Elysian … try a new stair street walk! … in the Spring. But now that the temps are up in the YIKES 100 DEGREES ON SATURDAY, who wants to go out there and sweat. Not me. Especially not if I’m having a good hair day. My calculations about whether to go to yoga or whether to brave a sweaty-ass walk or whether to just not often rest on: Am I having a good hair day?
Wouldn’t want to ruin good hair 🙄
But there’s a solution. My radical move for Summer is to walk after dark.
Last night I left the house at 10 o'clock. The moon was up. The air was cool. A few last bootlegged fireworks rumbled in the distance.
The neighborhood felt like a whole other place.
I looked down a leafy, shadowy staircase, and for a moment I was transported. Where was I? Why had I never seen those stairs, and what was at the bottom?? I checked the map on my phone, but still I was baffled. And intrigued.
I went down the staircase in the semi-darkness, and ended up on Lake Shore. Huh. Of course I’d seen those stairs before. I’d climbed up them many times, though maybe I'd never climbed down.
I used the flashlight on my phone to navigate the dirt road that leads from Lake Shore up to Lemoyne. I felt like a fuckin EXPLORER, though I’d walked that one several times before, too, or maybe I wouldn’t have been so brave. If you don’t know any better, it looks like someone’s driveway. And it was dark.
I wish I could say I was listening to some eerie, haunted music but in fact I had a podcast in my ears. The Frame. I was getting the inside scoop from a couple of music supervisors, with this crazy radical feeling like Echo Park had been turned upside down.
Anyhoo. Night Walks. Highly Recommended.
*****
A few must-haves for LA walking:
Charles Fleming’s Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles. Get it in print. Not necessarily good for night walks (unless you feel like rocking a headlamp?) but very excellent. Fleming tipped me off to secret stairs on my block I had never noticed.
A fanny pack. I sourced this basic black Herschel to wear on set when I’m script supervising, and it has also become indispensable for hiking. The 6.75” x 10” size easily fits my phone, sunglasses, Vitamin E Stick, a Pilot Precise, a lightweight Moleskine, keys, almonds or cashews or an apple, a few dollars in cash in case of tacos. The Secret Stairs book doesn’t quite fit, but I hold that in my hand to navigate anyway.
A fancy pair of buds. Ignoring my squawks of protest ($79?!) R replaced my dead earbuds with Apple’s In-Ear Headphones, which are really just earbuds with squishy jelly-fish attachments that make them more comfy. I guess the sound quality has improved too? Can’t say I’ve noticed, but I appreciate that they aren’t constantly falling out of my ears.
*****
xoxo,
Laramie
Please forward this to someone who walks 🏃❤️
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