Summer in the City

Summer time!  It’s summer time!  Cold tea and pizza time!

I am amazed at the volume of out of towners who show up in JTown during the summer.  Sitting on the steps of the old Higashi Temple waiting for a friend, I must have ruined at least 10-15 photos by people trying to document the ancient facade with their ancient digital cameras.  No Instagramming today.  All the smartphoners are on their bikes as part of CicLAvia.

I wonder, sometimes where they all come from.  They can’t all be from out of town, I highly doubt that our three block radius is hitting the front page of the Lonely Planet guide anytime soon.  Perhaps they are Westsiders cautiously venturing east of LA Brea.  Perhaps they are commuters, curious about the Gold Line stop they always pass through.  Perhaps they are daytrippers from OC, Santa Barbara, San Diego, looking for a bite to eat and a curiosity to pin on their Pinterest.

Regardless, they are here, and perhaps they will be back.  Perhaps they will become regulars, perhaps they will not return.  Perhaps they will be at a party and mention the bacon donut they got the other day at some cafe in Little Tokyo.  Perhaps they will be at a party spitting game and suggest dinner at this Japanese place they discovered some odd Sunday months ago.

It is summer in the city, and the days are long in JTown.  Out of towners and locals welcome.