First off, my quads were pathetically sore from the dancing we did in that music video the day before. (Really.) But Awesome Day Nineteen was also one of those days where all the little things started to pile up--and not the good little things, but the not-so-good ones. The kind of little things that just slowly start to nag at the back of your brain until you're so paralyzed by the overwhelming amount of Little Things that you simply shutdown for an entire afternoon. Or at least I do anyway.
Awesome Day Nineteen was precariously close to a shutdown.
During 30 Days of Awesome, however, afternoon shutdowns are not an option. So instead, I decided to take a walk around my neighborhood, which--as I'm sure you've already read--I love.
Two Awesome things (among many) are notable about this corner of the city by foot: Stairways and street art. Echo Park and Silver Lake (as well as other neighborhoods) have winding, somewhat hidden networks of stairways that connect the high up hilltops to the more popular walking streets down below. Unassuming and usually in some form of disrepair, these stairways remain unknown to the average Angelino; you kinda have to live nearby them to even notice them, much less use them. They are off the beaten path in sections of the city known for gang activity--not exactly a great endorsement of their safety or practicality--and they are steep. These things will provide a workout no Stair Master ever could.
They are also starting to get a lot more attention. (Odd that the BBC and I had the same stairways in mind on the same day, but kinda Awesome, if you ask me.)
All in all, Echo Park has about two dozen stairways scattered throughout the hilly terrain. They harken back to a time when cars didn't rule the landscape of LA, when a sophisticated trolly system took residents from point A to point B. These staircases were the most convenient way to get from one's home to the trolly tracks below, to run errands or go to work or socialize.
People must have been really fit back in the day.
Echo Park has big hills, meaning that some of these staircases are hundreds of steps tall. I decided to take a walk (a power walk, to be fair) to (probably) the tallest stairway in Los Angeles. With more than 230 steps, the stairs over by Baxter Street and Echo Park Avenue lead all the way up to a stunning view of the surrounding city: Downtown stands proud to one side, while the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Park Observatory shine on the other. Not a bad reward after panting my way to the top.
It was about a two mile walk each way to the staircase from my apartment, but walks in Echo Park are always enjoyable thanks to the rad amount of street art that inevitably lines the way. Multi-colored, positive, and done with an amount of artistry that deserves appreciation, these murals are not synonymous with the negative connotation of graffiti. They are something to be respected. There are even murals about the stairways; Echo Park residents are proud of Echo Park. I think that's pretty Awesome.
I returned home after my walk, sweaty and tired (it was hot out yesterday and those hills are no joke), but reinvigorated in a way no afternoon shutdown could have provided. Little Things are a way better problem to have than Big Things. Perspective is a wonderful thing.
Sometimes it's good to get a big, sweaty breath of fresh air.
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