Good morning sunshine

Yay! The sun is shining and it's spring in L.A. Y'know how I know? I can smell the night blooming jasmine throughout the entire city the minute the sun goes down. The whole city smells fresh. It's the most amazing thing.

I grew up in L.A. but I don't remember the jasmine. I remember the smog, which, by the way for those of you who are relatively new, is just not the same.

When was the last time you heard them talking about a smog alert on the morning news. I can't remember one in at least the last 10 years. OK, plenty of particle alerts from fire but that's totally not the same thing.

A stage one smog alert used to be issued at least 100 days per year in the '70s when I was growing up in the valley where smog sits like the cheese on your french onion soup bowl. Nowhere to go, just collecting in the basin and dropping little cheesy bits throughout your soup.

Now, we have almost no smog alerts and certainly no stage 2 or 3. Ah the days....

I should sue the LAUSD. I have had severe chronic asthma since I was but a babe. This did not seem to matter to my gym teachers. The fact that I had my own injectable epinepherine and took a billion predisone a day (steroids are really good for a kid's growth) did not seem to matter. Running around the football field during a stage 2 smog alert was not optional and when I actually started turning blue (this really happened - more than once) my mom was called to come pick me up and take me to the hospital. No ambulance. No oxygen. Just mom. Driving as fast as she could before I passed out in the gym office (note: not in the nurse's office - bitter much?)

Anyway, today is an absolutely gorgeous day in L.A. I don't want to hear any complaining people.