Gratitude v. Attitude

Gratitude v. attitude wasn't the title I wanted to write, but that's what came out. It should have read: gratitude vs. appreciation, but maybe attitude is the better word. 

I bring this up because on the weekend, my friends and I were talking about what it meant to say "thank you" to someone, as in: thank you for everything I've never thanked you for before. I used the word gratitude to describe this phenomenon; someone else said it was more like appreciation. I accepted this. But then I started thinking about it later, how I've always thought of gratitude as the bigger of the two, i.e., gratitude encompasses a wider audience for that which is being appreciated. Maybe this is just mincing words. Maybe it makes absolutely no difference if one appreciates someone or thing, or is grateful for that object of appreciation; in the end, what counts is that one is conscious enough to realize that in a relationship, this is the component that's been missing. 

On Friday, the day of supposedly rain and cold, I took a jaunty hike up to the Observatory with my friend Louise, whose birthday it was. As an added fillip, her friend Susan B. had flown down from Portland to surprise her, and it fell to me to keep a secret all the way to the top. I accomplished my task without bursting. The day was wonderfully crisp and clear.

(Above) Louise ascending. 




(R) Susan and Louise descending

And on Sunday, friends gathered to ride in the second CicLAvia, a seven-mile bike ride through the streets of L.A., organized by a small group of activists (shout out to Aaron Paley) with the support of Mayor Villaraigosa. What a success! Two more, in July and October, have been planned for this year. 

The route started in the neighborhood near LACC, at Heliotrope Dr. and Melrose Ave., home to the Bicycle Kitchen; it continued along Melrose to Seventh St., past MacArthur Park and into downtown, ending in Boyle Heights—or at least ending for us at Hollenbeck Park, where we kicked back and took in the peaceful surroundings. It's important to note that the area of Heliotrope and Melrose was once dubbed Hel Mel, for its cool shops and hipster vibe, but is now known as —trumpets everyone!—The Bicycle District. For L.A., this is a huge, and I mean huge, attitude change, and attitude can be everything.

CicLAvia, 4-10-11

 

Hollenbeck Park, Boyle Heights

CicLAvia 10-10-10

 Caught between a street performer and the deep blue at CicLAvia

The pain hit at midnight: my thighs were on fire! Oh lordy, someone bring on the bengay. I hadn't realized how hard I'd biked on Sunday crossing the 4th Street Bridge over the RR tracks and river into East L.A. But the thighs are still speaking to me, and here's what they're saying: go back to the gym and prepare for the NEXT CicLAvia in 2011!

I hope Sunday will be the first of many CicLAvias for the City of Los Angeles, where 7.5 miles of heavily trafficked streets were closed from Hollywood to Boyle Heights, and opened to cyclists, roller bladers, walkers and street performers. There are tons of pictures and videos at: CicLAvia's facebook page, CicLAvia Oct 2010 flickr page and at cicLAvia.wordpress.com. Appreciation and thanks go out to all the many people who brought this together, esp. Aaron Paley and Joe Linton. Thanks guys, it was a hell of a bike ride.

Here are some of my own contributions from the day and a video of Hip Hop Damage Control with Class, and one funky dancer, along Spring Street, as I was heading home.