Monochromia: #WhatISawInLA

Posted on by Stacy P. Fischer

Originally posted on Monochromia.

Police horses tethered outside Cold Stone Creamery, Venice Beach

Venice Beach, California

Here I was, sitting with my husband waiting for our pasta dinners at an Italian sidewalk cafe just a few blocks from the Venice Beach Fishing Pier when he exclaimed “Hey, check this out. Here come some mounted police.” Sure enough, clip-clopping down the center of W. Washington Boulevard were two policemen on horseback. “Who would have thought in Venice Beach,” I said, and turned back to the table. “Here come a few more,” he said. And as we watched, all five walked their horses up to the Cold Stone Creamery, dismounted, and leaving one officer holding the reins to all five, four walked into the ice cream shop. “I have to get this!” I exclaimed. “Go, go, go,” he said.

So I grabbed my camera, ran across the street, and began shooting. I wasn’t the only one. People stopped with their cellphones to take photos of the police and their horses. More interested in getting the shot that included the storefront, I shot from the “rear view,” making sure I didn’t hold up any traffic.

In today’s heated social climate, I spoke to the officers afterwards and thanked them for their service. They were so very grateful, confessing they didn’t hear that often. This is not meant as any kind of political commentary; I simply wanted to acknowledge them.

Finished shooting, I went back to the table and my husband, who told me that, according to our waiter, these officers used to go to the Starbucks a few doors down; deciding instead that smoothies were healthier, they made Cold Stone their new coffee break stop. Caloriewise, I’m not so sure of their reasoning unless they were loading up on java chip frappuccinos, but hey, this is after all, Los Angeles and somehow the idea of smoothie-drinking police officers just seemed to fit. As for the horses? Yeah, I’m still surprised by that. Perhaps I should have titled this post “Only in L.A.”

Salute!

31 thoughts on “Monochromia: #WhatISawInLA”

  3. Well i smiled with the rear view shot – and a bigger ending smile with the smooth drinking cold – bah! LA fo sho
    Well ago – one more smile midway thru too – the hubs saying Go Go Go
    Oh sweet man to know the. Value of your work!!
    The dinner can wait when a photographers’s duty calls – (so maybe a thx for that) anyhow – I try and thank cops and military folks when possible as well!

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  8. We were in that area last month but only because we were lost. Trying to find a way home and avoiding traffic is impossible on a Friday afternoon. Probably it’s impossible any time of day or night! Glad you were able to witness this and actually spoke to them. What a great shot!

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  10. PRETTY NEAT STACY BUT I JUST HAD TO SMILE AS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE HORSE AND THE OFFICER ON THE LEFT IS A BIKE…….. HORSE, BIKE A WAY OF TRANSPORTATION. SO MANY YEARS AGO…..MEMORIES LOVE MOM.

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    • Great eye, Mom. I have to admit, I never saw the bicycle, so focused was I on capturing the horses 🙂 Seeing it now brings another level of meaning to the photo, that’s for certain. Thanks for pointing it out 💕

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