Around Town: Proximity helps make life in LCF sweet
Here it is, another year. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, arrived with sundown Wednesday, when the year 5775 began.
There are customs, traditions and stories, both religious and secular. It can be a time of reflection and a time of renewal.
Jewish New Year can be an eclectic holiday, made more so by the advantage of living in the 91011.
That advantage, of course, is proximity.
Proximity. What does “proximity” mean?
There’s physical proximity. With the exception of rush hour and SigAlerts, our town is only 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, popularly called “DTLA.” DTLA is the home of great restaurants, like Bodega Louie, the Water Grill and Nickel Diner.
La Cañada Flintridge is only 20 minutes from Koreatown, home to the Iota Brew Café, which roasts the beans each morning and brews each cup to order, with an additional teddy bear or Hello Kitty on the cappuccino foam. Proximity to K-Pop, Boba, Shaved Ice, the Bathhouses and all that K-Town has to offer — that’s a unique and delectable proximity.
Our town is only 15 minutes from Valley Village and the Cambridge Market (kosher brisket), the Continental Bakery (round challah for the holiday), and Adat Ari El (best holiday music, inspirational clergy).
Alas, there won’t be Kimchi, corn tortillas or salsa at our holiday table. We stick to the basics: brisket, kasha (from buckwheat groats) and things made with apples and honey.
Proximity. LCF is 24 minutes from East Los Angeles, home to La Moscota bakery, numerous markets and the Chinmaya art gallery, which sometimes shows the work of Pola Lopez, an artist who relocated here from New Mexico. Her art reminds me of magical realism but with an indigenous feminist twist. I love her Madonnas.
Proximity includes all the places I am grateful for, but have left out. Don’t forget Little Ethiopia, all those Armenian bakeries dotting Glendale Avenue and Glenoaks Boulevard, Porto’s on Brand Boulevard, and Min’s Kitchen, right here in LCF, with incredible, made-to-order authentic Thai food.
Proximity and distance includes all the cultures inspire, create and defend the multicultural, energetic, innovative holiday experience essential to West Coast Judaism.
It’s also OK to be a “hot house flower,” to become embedded in your own neighborhood, culture, and a single language. You can have a good week in LCF, taking in the vistas, while staying out of the city below.
Down there, in the city, they don’t understand about the bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, owls, hawks, rodents and domestic ants that share our LCF. You need a couple of good power outages to truly understand the underpinnings of the L.A. Basin.
That’s why it’s great to live in LCF. The weather is usually good. There’s very little snow. Parking is free and the smog mostly blows back to L.A. by the time I get off work.
On the other hand, I don’t work in LCF. In the winter, it’s still dark when I leave the house and the sun is down by the time I return.
No matter. The world outside may be falling apart, but that city down the hill, with its neon lights and many languages, is a city of dreams and dreamers.
Up here in the foothills, life can be safe, snug and hopeful. All because of proximity. We have everything we need to have a sweet new year.
Happy New Year to all my friends and readers. A sweet year to you all.
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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.