December26 Melbourne/LA

We’ve been here a week . Driving home from the airport I had the urge to take a photo of the green paddocks along the Eastlink . Yeah , I’m talking the shit farm . My left arm dragged my right arm with phone in hand and pinned it back to my lap . The appreciation of the landscape is magnified . The space , the clean air , trees and even green paddocks with a horse or too . Wow , I never appreciated it in the past , took it for granted . This is normal ….. not in LA .We like to blow our own trumpet , Melbournians . The worlds most livable city? Yeah we won that prize, but I laughed out loud to myself when I realised there were many competitions ran each year , often with Melbourne not near the top . You see these things when you’re outside of the hometown filter . Still , driving past Melbourne for the first time in 9 months allowed me to reassess: She is mighty , a hulk of a location and much bigger than central LA. The centre of Melbourne is truly massive , we’ve got everything squeezed in there ;LA ;the opposite , it’s a one colour spread into an endless sprawl . Congestion is a Melbourne problem .Traffic chaos is LA , but it’s the endless sprawl and enormous mass of cars jammed onto 6 and 8 lane freeways that set LA aside . The city of Angels is strangled by an octopus of cars , pinned down by miles of concrete and beige render .City of Angels? ….. No she is not . Soulless, fast , hot , spread . She is a monster that I don’t like , but after 7 days away there’s a slither , a pang , a drawing , something magnetic pulls on the pit of my stomach . I hate to admit it but I miss her just a bit , I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself to the mental battle of putting her down . Melbourne she will never be , home no , pretty no , ocean ….. yes . That’s it …. that’s the draw ….. I miss her water . It l be sad to leave Aus but I look forward to looking back at the mass from my safe place , the Pacific Ocean ….. I’l see you soon .