Walking in Venice.

Sometimes, when the days seem to all mesh together and you know doing something totally different is in order… you drive over to Venice in the morning for a long walk.

You walk with the dog, walk with the baby, walk with your sunglasses on. You walk with your hair blowing in the ocean’s breeze, as it’s soaking up the scent of sunshine and coconut oil and salt.

You walk by shop owners setting up their tee shirts and sunglasses stands, and henna artists are sitting in what’s left of the morning shade, ready for a full day of work.

You walk men passing out CD’s (uhhh, no thanks) and hear the sound of skateboarders grinding up ahead. You walk past the smell hot dogs cooking and whooooooooo, a biker speeds by.

Oh, and hello little blue lifeguard stand.

I can always tell the locals from the tourists. The locals are bundled up during the morning hours (or anytime it’s below 68*), chilled by the breeze that whips around them. (Kinda makes me giggle. They don’t know what cold really feels like.) The tourists look quite the opposite, wearing flip flops and short shorts and tanks, trying to soak up the warmth as if they can bottle it and bring it back home.

One of my favorite things about living in Los Angeles is how many different places there are to walk, but no matter where I go I can usually always see the ocean, the mountains, or the cityscape. And always the gorgeous flowers. Growing up in Michigan we didn’t have these kinds of views, so walking in Venice is a real treat.

I need to drive over there more often. Venice is just a few miles from where we live, but walking their beach front is so refreshing…