LA is on fire. Literally. There is smoke and ash all over the city. The sun is obscured by the haze of the fires that are raging around us. In NY, the leaves are turning. Here the leaves are burning. Welcome to the Fall in LA.

It is hard to find refuge from the smoke. Our voices are raspy and ash is falling from the sky like snow.  The late afternoon light in my loft is beautiful and sad. The golden glow comes from a sky painted with the oranges and yellows of the fires.

Last night, I heard birds chirping as I choked on the smoke that filled my loft. I initially thought, “How beautiful. the birds are still hopeful, singing through the night”. Well, around 4 a.m. I shook off my sleep and realized the birds had found refuge in my loft. Not that it was any less smokey. For hours I tried to steer the birds back to their natural habitat. What is that exactly? I live in a jungle of downtown industrial buildings.

I stayed up for hours, coaxing the birds, acting as air traffic controller guiding them towards the open window. Not an easy task. They seemed quite happy to nest on my soft faux fur chair. Finally, hours later, my little birds figured it out and left the nest.

So, exhausted, but needing to flee my smoke and ash loft, I met my friend Laura at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market. What were we thinking? Our eyes tearing with smoke, as we tried to make our way through the crowds and vendors.

Finally, we gave up and went to the one breath of fresh air -- “The Cat and the Fiddle” on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.  A British pub that has a lovely courtyard surrounded by Ficus trees. The leaves of the Fiscus trees act like a sponge and absorb the smokey air. There, for a couple of hours, we could breath easier, talk and relax. We had brunch and bloody Marys,  relishing the small bit of fresh air. Go here during a bad day. Go here during a good day. I forgot how fun and British and lovely this place is.

My NY friends, who are jealous of the beautiful weather here, need to spend a day or 2 when we’re barely able to breath and the Santa Anna winds and fires are reeking havoc. Yes, it can be beautiful here in LA. But I’d take a snow day any day over the choking, smokey air that has been hovering over our city and infiltrating our homes for the past 48 hours.

Places to go to escape the smoke:

• The Cat and Fiddle (Sunset Blvd in Hollywood)

• The Courtyard (Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood) -- great Spanish Tapas and Rioja wine.

• The Arc Light Cinema (Sunset Blvd in Hollywood)

• The new Hennessey and Ingalls book store in Hollywood  --       there you can peruse some of the finest art books and escape the smokey madness