From the Beach to the Mountains to the Getty

Yesturday we got up and decided to have an adventure. We drove through city and traffic and heavier traffic until we got to even worse traffic, but finally we got to the pacific coast highway. We drove down that for a while and were quite amazed by the five or six story extreamly steep hill to our right, and the ocean to our left. On the thin strip of land that contained the highway was a number of beach homes and resturants. The houses were so narrow and shallow, but many of them looked as if they had three or four floors. As interesting as they were, they pretty much just annoyed us because they blocked our view of the ocean from the highway. It was so crowded there with such buildings.


Later we took a canyon road into the mountains. On our way up we were able to see the ocean from a much better viewpoint. We stopped to look at it for a while. I'm not sure either of us knows quite what to do with the ocean yet. We stare at it as awed visitors, not as close friends. We continued into the mountains.





The mountains are a different story. We know them. They offer life to us, and we know how to accept their gift. The freshness of the air was amazing, and it awakened something in our souls.

We stopped and looked around. We took some pictures. We took a picture of ourselves. It was fun. We pressed on and began driving through some beautiful mountain country. The city was gone. The crowded, compressed, sardine-packaged beach culture gave way to a wide open vastness of foliage and stone. This visit was just a teaser though, an exploration to see just what exists out here in California. Our next visit will be longer, and more personal.

The mountains did not last forever. They soon gave way to ranches, farms, small communities, and then, before we knew it, we had descended back into city. We ate at Chipotle, Dez's favorite, and then proceeded towards our next destination: The Getty Center.

The Getty Center is a beautiful complex placed on the top of a mountain. You park at the bottom and take a tram to the top. At the top we were amazed with it's stone archetecture, it's artistic beauty not only as a container for art but as a peice of art in and of itself. The first hour we were there we spent admiring the building and it's gardens. We decided we could easily spend the day just resting in it's echoing comfort.

From it's mountain perch the Getty overlooks Los Angeles as heaven does the world. It felt like Mt. Olympus or an ancient monestary. We felt as pilgrims. I'm coming to realize that the expansion of the mind is fruitless and meaningless without the restoration of the soul. The Getty aims at both.



Soaking in the beauty of our surroundings we proceeded to look at many of their exihibits. The one that stood out to me the strongest was a collection of drawings by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Italian, 1591-1666). Mostly pen ink drawings with ink washes, I was moved by the energetic fast-moving lines that were still able to capture such accuracy and detail. Like an explosion that created instead of destroyed. From choatic fury emerged intentionality and purpose. I love it.

Many of his drawings can be seen here, and for more information on Guercino look here.

Overall, an amazing day at the Getty, an amazing day overall. We left happy. Here's one last picture we took of ourselves in the Garden of the Getty at Night.