First impressions are always the exotic smells, the flowers along Sepulveda Boulevard upon leaving LAX, the palm trees. Being here feels, for this New Englander, like being on another planet. I come for my son and his family. Lots of traffic day and night. Shoppers in sunglasses who might be celebrities. (They like to shop too.) Lemon trees in gardens. Mexican sage that still flowers in November. Huge jade plants growing outside. Fake grass. My son’s gigantic television with what seems like all the channels possible in the world. Commercials that feature Asians and Latinos and Blacks rather than Caucasians. Wide avenues with six lanes of traffic, eight lanes on the freeway. The senses take it all in. Los Angeles provides a great change of scenery that recharges the batteries.
