It’s warm out (84º) but cooler than it has been so far this week. The neighborhood seems especially calm this afternoon. There’s the usual traffic in the background, but the alley is person- and car-free. You can hear the whirr (and perhaps the squeak?) of air-conditioners, and the birds— a mockingbird and a house finch, I think, and also a rooster—are especially predominant. It’s a soothing soundscape, with some of east LA’s key hallmarks.