Goodbye holiday

Although I have only seen Hollywood from a descending airplane, the memory of entering LA airport and then departing again seven hours later often brings to mind that brief glimpse that I caught, as well as this song of Richard's. I was very miserable, as my happy holiday moments were fast becoming lost. I had left San Diego early that morning and was flying from LA back to Australia that evening. My European and American vacation behind me the moment the final plane touched down in Sydney.

We had seven hours spare in LA. My son was still of single-digit age at the time, and therefore happily contented with spending the last of our US dollars on snacks and soda-pop, wandering about the airport, chatting to some other children preparing to fly back to Aussie, and playing on the computer machine that we found at our terminal.

There was a computer screen showing a view of a museum room in LA City. The museum likewise had a computer giving them access to view us at the airport. My son had glorious fun waving, poking out his tongue, blowing raspberries, and performing other antics into the screen and watching the reactions at the other end.

Apart from that brief glimpse of Hollywood as we descended and a stretch of palm tree flanked airport roadway as we crossed the airport, I have yet to encounter either LA or Hollywood. However, Richard's song still comes to mind as I think of the last few hours separating me from my dying vacation. It was goodbye USA, goodbye California and goodbye Hollywood, as our plane took us back to Sydney.