Every now and then the sun is out, the sky is bright blue and the warmish air smells fresh and relatively clean. (By Los Angeles standards.) And the whole outdoor realm just feels…perfect. And I’m one of those many millions who, when such a day is upon us, too often doesn’t stop and smell the roses. But I did today.

For about 15 seconds. Okay, ten. Right before I entered the West Hollywood Library for the first time in over 14 months, and it was wonderful…wonderful to offer my card, talk quietly to the clerks, plug in at a work table and just settle in. Library writing tends to focus me a bit more; too many distractions at home (food, cats, TV, vacuum cleaner, bathroom mirror).

I chose a table away from the main desk, back in the rear section. It took me 15 or 20 minutes to notice I was in an area that was specially reserved for LGBT visitors. (“Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Area.”) I suddenly felt like an interloper. A youngish, dark-haired woman was sitting at the other end of the table; had she noticed that I don’t look particularly gay and that I might want to think about sitting elsewhere, just to be on the polite side? She probably didn’t care.

I was also kinda wondering what the reaction might be if the WeHo library had decided that another section of the library was to be officially designated or set aside as an area where straights and cisgenders were encouraged to congregate.

View from north-facing window of WeHo Library — Wednesday, 5.5.21, 2:15 pm.