27: VA Medical Center, Westwood

27: VA Medical Center, Westwood
Designed by: New Roads School
Piano type: Full upright
Playability: Good
Weather: 65°F, overcast
How I got here: Bicycle

After a few minutes worth of biking through the streets of Westwood and the stand-still traffic of Wilshire Blvd - much faster than I could navigate that stretch in a car or bus - I found myself on the grounds of the Veteran's Administration Medical Center campus, near the Wadsworth Theatre, and searched for this piano. It both annoyed and thrilled me that it wasn't plainly in view, making the search for it part of my little completist thrill.

Finally, after biking through half a mile through some of the streets on the VA compound, I saw it, standing alone in the center of a garden, amidst some picnic tables.

There was nobody there save for an older interracial couple in the middle of a tender embrace. The closest people were several yards away, perhaps too far out of earshot to hear the piano.

Look closely, and you can see people in the background...

It was then when I understood the positioning of the piano - the garden was a serene environment, and music a source of pleasure, enrichment and healing. Its purpose and location was intended to be somewhat therapeutic, especially to of the Veterans, some of which are suffering from physical injuries from service or mental-health related issues. A lone piano in the middle of a garden suddenly made perfect sense.

"Plant Me, I'm Yours."

When I left home earlier today, my plan was to have all five Westside pianos played by the end of my journey. Unfortunately, I was running against both low camera battery readings and the hands of time -- it was about 4 p.m. and I had to make my way back to attend an event at Los Angeles City Hall at 6 p.m. (Which also meant returning home, changing into more formal attire and taking the subway to Downtown). Alas, the two other Westside pianos, the ones in Santa Monica Beach, will have to be taken care of tomorrow.

Being on Federal land, and dedicating my performance to Veterans (I'm currently helping a friend outreach to Filipino American veterans of the Korean War as part of that war's 60th Anniversary Commemoration), I played Ray Charles' rendition of "America The Beautiful":