Palisades Promising This A.M.

Before and after photos of a commercial building, a historic one no less, that sits gutted in the heart of Palisades. This is the side that faces Antioch. It was one of the most gut-wrenching sites that I saw this morning on my bus ride. These are not my photos, but screen captures from Google Earth comparing pre-Palisades Fire to it's aftermath, some 15 months after the fires were extinguished by Mother Nature.

I'd been wanting to take the Big Blue Bus 9-Line up to Sunset Blvd, which runs through the middle of Pacific Palisades, but until students returned to the high school near this site (about a block away) in late January, I wasn't sure that the bus served the heart of town. Today, with time on my hands and a free bus pass, I decided to take the bus tour through town.

The post-apocalyptic videos I watched last January just showed block after block of residential homes burnt to their foundations, sometimes only a chimney left standing. And while I did see a slice of that this morning, it wasn't the hellscape that sat smoldering with burnt out vehicles everywhere like in the 2025 videos. No, the cars are long removed, fencing has gone up around most properties and signs of life were popping up over the tops of them everywhere I looked. Rebuilt homes in every phase of completion now dot the landscape, a promising sign. For this reason, I did not get off the bus and take photos or videos. I had recently looked at satellite images that still showed block after block of foundational remains. That's not all that is there today, thankfully.

I'd heard horror stories about the impossibilities of rebuilding due to bureaucratic and insurance hurdles, and that a lot of former homeowners decided to sell and relocate, but that wasn't the story Palisades told today. It was heartening to see.

The photos below are of the Sunset Blvd. side of the building, which is the perspective I had today. I was so curious what the stately old building once housed, that I had to look it up on Google Maps satellite view, then street view.

Here's to hoping they reach some sort of new normal before the decade is out, unlike my old haunt, Fort Myers Beach, which is still a long way from there.

 

So Long SoCal...Never found my pack

 

Book page:
https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/wired-for-love/

MY CURRENT READ (above) which I found at the Santa Monica Library. I'm just getting started and I already love it! Here's what she's said so far that resonated deeply...

(p.21) "People who report feelings of social isolation--what is typically called loneliness--have been shown to have less gray and white matter in key social areas of their brain. If they remain lonely, they are susceptible to a cascade of neurological events that echo throughout their bodies, leading to so many poor health outcomes that some public health experts now consider chronic loneliness on par with smoking as a grave risk to your health." WOW!

MY TENDENCY

I tend to be a pack animal. I grew up in a family of seven. I had lots of cousins my age that I saw semi-regularly, at least when I was a pre-teen. I was sort of a lone ranger in school, though, having trouble fitting in with all the kids who were bigger (as in more physically mature) and more athletic than me. The first couple years of high school were the WORST! Until midway through Junior year, after I had hit my growth spurt and my stride, I found my posse. These are the core group of friends I spent my last 1.5 years of high school hanging out with, going to parties, going to prom, etc. I had my pack. Then I moved to Florida.

Becoming involved musically and socially at a large church, I quickly found my pack in Tallahassee. Some of those friends remain dear to me today, some 40 years later.

I moved across country in the midst of the pandemic, to remain near to my daughters, who had moved with their mother to Colorado. It was a big leap to a much colder, higher altitude, high desert climate. Beyond my ex and my girls, I knew no one. It didn't take long, though, to assimilate. Even without the music scene, I found it easy to win friends and gain their trust. For almost 11 months, I had my pack.

After I left there, I lived with family in Indiana before returning to Florida. At the beach, I re-engaged with old friends, some dear ones, even an old girlfriend and the music scene, joining a local cover band. I had my pack of misfits, again.

I operate better in a pack.

MY PRESENT REALITY

In the book, I'm learning how evolutionarily beneficial it is for the brain to be a pack animal (socially connected). New brain science is proving how neural connections are multiplied with regular social interaction. No wonder I gravitate naturally towards others and finding connection.

That has been extremely hard in Los Angeles, where I've been living the last 14 months. I have no pack, no posse, and only a few regular contacts out here. I am lonely. I do not want to damage my mental or physical health when I've come so far.

With the help of my therapist, I've decided I need to be back in Florida. This SoCal experience, which was totally impulsive, has been a major flop. And while I've enjoyed the adventure of somewhere new, and I can mark dipping my toes in the Pacific Ocean off my bucket list, I am not thriving nor happy here. I've maintained my peace for the most part, moreso here lately since coming to this decision.

This summer, before I make the cross-country backtrack, I plan to visit my daughters who I haven't seen in nearly five years. They are grown and in college now, still living near the Rockies in Colorado. If all goes right, I'll have the whole summer with them and leave for Florida once fall is about to set-in. I loathe the cold.

My final destination, I believe, is Key West (or somewhere in The Florida Keys). I have friends down there. I belong at sea level in a warmer climate on "island time." That suits this pack animal just fine.