Old Stomping Grounds

My first call on Friday took me about 5 miles from here. I used to live in this building, right across the street from one of the city's largest parks in Sherman Oaks. Only when I was here, it was a garish red-and-black trim, but for $750 a month my roommate and I enjoyed a large 2-bedroom apartment with no central-anything and older than both of us. Them was the days...

As for this, this is the corner of Laurel Canyon Blvd. and Chandler Boulevard. What was once a lovely green belt in the median between the East- and West-bound lanes is now a part of the MTA bus routes. Caught me very much off guard...

I haven't spent any appreciable amount of time in this part of LA for more than a dozen years at least. It was a very weird sensation to drive through the area--much I recognized, but many things were new or re-done, the metro stop being the most egregious example.

Mostly though, it was reminiscing with myself about my early twenty's that played the hardest with my mind. I would not trade my life for anything, but there are times I wish I could go back and change some decisions I made along the way.