Los angeles

I lived in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2020, and the city never ceased to amaze me with wonder every time I stepped out the front door. Between the scenic mountains, celebrity sightings, and general chaos of one of the world’s hottest destinations for tourists, LA was exciting at every turn. My husband Jim and I lived in East LA, and we often drove to the beach in Santa Monica to go skateboarding or surfing, and on one of these days, we saw what I still today refer to as the “best thing I ever saw in LA.” As we were making our way west on the 10, which ends at the Pacific Coast Highway and can vary from 8 to 10 lanes of high-speed traffic, I noticed a huge object in the road in front of us that was blocking a whole lane. I pointed it out to Jim, who quickly merged left to avoid the fallen mass, and just as he did so, a Ford Bronco flew by us on the right, heading directly toward what we were now realizing was an old section of carpet folded over on itself. I kept a close eye on the Bronco, horrified by the idea of the driver hitting the carpet and lodging it under the vehicle, flipping the car, when the driver actually did hit the carpet at full speed. The dingy piece of discarded home décor then caught on the back bumper and became a shaggy, thumbing unwanted passenger barreling down the highway — for the next three miles. To our astonishment, the driver never slowed down, and we only lost sight of the car and the magic carpet when the Bronco exited the 10, only a few miles from the beach. LA is the best!