apples and oranges

A few days ago, we headed to the Y for “family swim time” at the pool. It’s not Thomas Pool in Frederick, with its child-friendly sloping entrance, surrounded by trees and full of families. It’s a decent lap pool next to a busy road in a shoddy, run-down building, but it’s a pool and the girls were excited to swim. Then we got to the pool and, due to a chlorine overload, it was closed.

So I took a deep breath and held back tears. That probably sounds dramatic, but it’s been kind of a tough week - the adjustment of life in a new city with three girls in tow can be exhausting. During the day, I try my best to smile and point out all of the positive attributes of Studio City - the palm trees, the quick walk to Trader Joes, the shaded park - and at night Toby endures the comparison - the grocery store is so crowded and the air is so dirty and people are not pedestrian-friendly in their cars and so on and so on.

So there we were, looking at a hot afternoon with nothing to do. Then, as we were walking out of the building, an eccentric woman came running up to us, exclaiming that the girls just have to try the acting class. It’s free and it’s for children ages 4 to 7 years old. So, that Saturday afternoon, while Toby and I took turns working out, Evie and Lucy took turns scampering around the room as mice, stealing gold coins as a devil and her cat, practicing award speeches, and choreographing dance moves. It wasn’t the afternoon I had envisioned but it was wonderful and new and different. Where else but in Los Angeles would the Y have free acting classes for children with the very dramatic Miss Sandra? [And I couldn’t help but smile when Miss Sandra told me that the girls have “the calling” for acting, which Mike said gave him visions of Lucy in fifteen years stomping off of the set while the directors and producers shake their heads sadly, lamenting that “all the best talent comes with that attitude.”]

There are still going to be bumps in the road, but I felt like Saturday afternoon was a turning point for me in my feelings towards LA. It was a metaphor handed to me on a platter and an opportunity for me to learn that I should give up on the side by side comparison between two cities. There are things I will always miss and appreciate about Frederick - meeting up with friends at the pool, walking two blocks to Baker Park, and of course the ease of visits with family. But this week we drove less than half an hour to spend the morning at a beautiful beach with Sarah and Ethan, the next day we participated in a neighborhood bike parade, and yesterday morning I biked through the canyon behind our house and then headed to a farmer’s market like I’ve never seen before.

In the car this morning, the song “California Dreaming” came on and Lucy said, “I heard them say California! What is this song called?” I listened to the words to explain them to her and realized that I was describing a song about being on the east coast and missing California. One day I might just have a blog entry about that as well.