Los Angeles, California, November 19th

Any time I travel to California, and quite possibly the primary reason I go there, is for an opportunity to visit with Hannah, my daughter. She has lived in and around Los Angeles since she enrolled at Loyola Marymount University as an undergrad, and later, as a law student, also at LMU. For a while she lived in Rancho Cucamonga just outside of Los Angeles, but now she's living in downtown LA in a pretty fancy high rise. Conveniently, it was caddy corner to where we were to meet, an Italian restaurant named Terroni right there in downtown LA. As always, I was very happy see her. Getting there from Fallbrook had required every bit of GPS assistance, occasional race-car driving nerves, a little patience, and a touch of luck.

I had given myself an extra hour to arrive on time. The crazy network of highways and insane automobile volume of LA more or less demands a travel cushion of this sort and often times more. But St. Christopher must have been perched on my shoulder or doing pushups on my dashboard because I was eventually cruising along the streets of downtown LA. I had arrived on time. I found a parking lot directly across the street from the restaurant that had an empty spot for ten bucks and man, that sure was a good beginning to the visit. I stationed myself at the bar, texted Han "I'm here!". She was waiting for me. Took the elevator down from her apartment building, crossed the street and when I looked at the entrance to see who had just come in, there she was. Like I said, I was damn happy to see her.

As always happens when I haven't seen her in a while and being a naturally curious person and a shameless fan of hers, I wanted to know all about her present state of affairs. I asked about her current job, her previous job (ACLU), the move from Rancho to downtown LA, her new digs, her personal life, etc., etc., etc! Good manners prevented her from shutting down the inquiry and she patiently and good naturedly answered. I've often described Hannah as a serious young lady who is seriously focused on her career because I really admire that part of her. But she's also a sweet, kind and friendly person with an enormously big heart who cares a great deal about people. All people. That's why she was such an effective lawyer while at the ACLU, and now, at her new job, as counsel for illegal immigrant's rights in southern California.

The meal was okay if overpriced (food prices 'round these here parts are based on a formula that factors location, something someone invented a long time ago called "ambience", and whatever intangible trendy quotient a particular city possesses or promotes at all times). But I would have gladly paid twice the amount to have seen Hannah. It was a nice visit. We even crossed the street and she showed me her apartment, which was awful nice.

We hugged and said goodbye and that was that.

I punched the down button on the elevator and waited.

I was headed back to Fallbrook. The GPS seamlessly directing and depositing me on the most appropriate highways, veering me off one, merging me on to the next. There was hardly any traffic delay on the way back. It was smooth sailing, I did good time. When I sat down with Beverly inside her groovy little cottage, the clock hadn't yet struck 9. A glass of red on my lap, I proceeded to tell her a story or two. - Max