It was such a gorgeous day out yesterday, and I think today might be more of the same. This is the kind of weather that makes me feel lucky, as if I've won a pass to enjoy the sunlight and my city as I wander about over the weekend. And wander about we did! I had some research to do yesterday and decided to go about it old-school and visit the library with my cousin.
The
Central Library downtown is probably among my top ten favorite spots in LA. Yesterday my research took me to the children's department, which is an especially lovely spot in the building--to reach it, you walk through this rotunda:
Gorgeous, right? Apologies for the mediocre image quality, I had actually remembered to bring my camera, but when I pulled it out it was just out of battery! Oops. This one was snapped on my phone.
I fell in love with this place one summer as an intern years ago, working in the photo collection that makes its home in the depths of the building in the history/genealogy department. The photo collection is just one of the library's many special collections, and I remember going through archives of glass negatives from long-defunct local papers, sorting photographs--there were so many files! Rooms full of them.
The library building itself is so lovely, with its garden and unique architecture (there are more floors underground than above).
While interning here, my boss's love for downtown and the library were infectious, and my time with her and at the library instilled in me a deep sense of appreciation for all the history and culture--and food!--that was surrounding us. Come to think of it, that summer is probably also when I first fell hard for downtown in general. She made it a point to show me many of the area's
historical gems, and I recall so many lovely long lunches, walking several blocks at a time for some great
Chinese food, historical Clifton's Cafeteria, or for gorditas at
Grand Central Market. Those were
good.
Imagine my delight, then, when as my cousin and I were walking out of the library yesterday, we run into said former boss walking in! It was even more of an odd coincidence, as she had retired recently and is no longer working there. She just happened to be arriving for an event that afternoon. It was so great to bump into her and catch up. What a perfect way to end a library field trip!
