Pic de Jour

JIM & HEATH IN LA LA LAND

One fall way back in the day, Heather and I took a plane to Los Angeles. We rented a car and drove from the airport into the city and thought, wow, you could fit ten Torontos into this place. So we did some touristy things, and met up with some people we knew who had moved there a while before. We walked around on Sunset Boulevard, where I took this shot. One night we woke up to hear a strange noise outside out our window. I got up and went to the double doors that opened up onto a little Juliette balcony and the heat rushed into the room. It almost knocked me over. When I looked out at the hills to the north, I saw a whole wall of fire, burning right down to the ocean. It was easily the scariest thing I had ever seen. Needless to say we got out of there the next day and headed up the coast. California is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. But LA...Not so much. There was a vibe about the place that carried a bit of menace with it. And the fires didn't help.