Me & sparkling water making friends ....

Saw this little guy right in the middle of the beach, just sitting all alone in the sand. I was afraid for his possibly dire fate, and so.....

I let him go over by the rocks, near Fonzie :)

Hello Summer!

The first day of summer was last Saturday. I didn't make it down to the beach until close to sunset but then I had a lovely walk. A really, really lovely walk. The photos above may give you some idea.

I had been cooped up in the house all day with my homebody kid & was grateful for the relief. I love the summer and I love my son but each pulls me away from the other. School's out so my son is on my time now all day long everyday. I can either force him to come with me (which he's totally not into, sadly) or make other arrangements and just go without him. His complaining kind of harshes my mellow anyway, so in the past I've tended to let his hermit-like ways keep me home much too much but this summer I just can't do it. If I don't get out & walk my mind goes too squirrely. I get ants in my pants and static in my attic. Something about that stretch of beach really irons out my wrinkles in a wonderful way.

So let's see..... I've made it down there four out of the past five days so I'm doing pretty good. The more I walk the better I feel, so I keep on walking.

A lot of days they have surfing school. Isn't that great?!!!



Then yesterday and today they've been having Junior Lifeguard training.



I love seeing all the kids, little and not so little, surfing and running up and down the beach. Too cute!

Other fun stuff: this morning all my usual favorite morning walkers were there: the two older men I call the Russians & the lady I call the Russian lady, even though they don't appear to know each other, we just all happen to walk at around the same time. I imagine that the men are Russian Mafia (no idea what their ethnicity really is) & that when the day comes they will spare me because I'm always friendly to them. The Russian lady wears the same perfume as my stepmom. It smells nice but it's always a little bit disconcerting because it's a really distinct smell.

Also, I saw the nearly naked swimming guy. Yay! He's awesome! I love the nearly naked guy! He's very fit, well into his 60s at least, tan, balding, white hair, goatee, and he strips down to the teeniest tiniest G-string ever and takes a short swim in the ocean. How great is that?! Bold I tell ya!

Then there are the two city worker guys. They get on my nerves driving their stupid loud tractors all over the sand making all that obnoxious noise. I have no idea what they're even doing. I know they're doing something probably super necessary and important (yeah right) but it's annoying. They both have beards & back in the winter when I would see them working on the pier I wanted to ask them if they were having some sort of beard growing contest. One guy looked sort of cute and I thought his beard was sexy at first in a Jake Gyllenhaal kind of way but I got sick of it real quick & decided it was more in a Joaquin Phoenix kind of way & now I hate him. LOL?

And then there was Gael. Ah, Gael.... I didn't see him today. In fact, I only saw him for about a week or two a few months ago. He would run across the beach a few times on the softer, dry sand up away from the water so I never got a really good look at him but from my distance he looked perfect. He was dark haired, thin and tan with some tattoos, which I normally don't go for but on him, like I said, perfect. I wonder if he'll ever be back again. He was dreamy.

So that's it. My pictures show the June Gloom weather which it has been in the mornings but it clears up by the late afternoon and gets hot and summery and wonderful. I still feel nervous/anxious a lot for no reason & about half the time I have a nasty headache but I'm dealing with it all pretty well. Walking helps, I think because it helps me to live in the moment instead of being so stuck in my own head, and the sights and sounds of the beach help to unwind my mind. Except for those stupid tractors!

Fonzie's Got A Girlfriend :)

As I came up to Fonzie this morning I saw that he had made a friend. She was just laying there on top of him so I kind of propped her up so she would look more fancy. I think it made them both look happy.

Besides that, it's the last day of school so that means it was my last morning walk without having to drag along a grumpy 10 year old or get grandma to babysit. I was trying to feel sad or wistful about it but I just couldn't & didn't. It was a beautiful morning, as always, and walking on the beach just makes me feel so good. It makes me live in the moment and it really is the best therapy.

Lately most days I've filled both of my shorts pockets up with shells (I've been calling them "two pocket days") and today was no exception. It's a paradise of shells every morning. My new bigger shell bowl is overflowing and now I've also nearly filled up a big Tupperware container. I'm thinking I need to do some kind of art project with the shells, like making jewelry or mirror frames. I want to put them to good use in a way that I can enjoy looking at them daily.

Also, the Nordic god face on the wall by the pier? I've been calling him Pookie. Not a very godlike name, but that makes it kind of funny & I think the name will stick.

Another brick in the wall

Since I posted a pic of Fonzie the other day, I wanted to also post a pic of the wall on the other side of my beach walk. It looks like a face to me. Just like I high five the Fonz rock on the north side, when I get back to the pier on the south side, I always walk up to this exact spot on the wall but instead of a high five, I poke this guy in the eyes and mouth. I haven't given him a name yet. He reminds me of a Norse god.

Say hello to my little friend!

While looking for shells yesterday, I picked up a lovely purple shell that a sand crab was still using. I put him back in the sand, of course.

Surf's Up, Fonzie! Aeyyy!

See this rock? It's name is Fonzie. I named it Fonzie because it's shaped like a big "A" and it reminds me of when the Fonz would say "Aeyyy." (Hey, I just remembered there was also a big A on the sign for Arnold's.) Anyway, the rock made me think of Fonzie so that's what I named it & I give it a high five everyday and say "Aeyyy" right back to it.

I woke up at 5 am feeling agitated & irritated. I laid in bed watching TV for awhile & decided I needed my beach fix so I was up & out & on my way. I'm so glad I did. Today is Sunday & I usually don't go on the weekends. I also talked my son into walking with me yesterday afternoon. I take all the comfort I can get! Anyway, this morning was a teeny bit drizzly but not too cold. We've had unusually high surf for a few days so there were a lot of surfers. Here's a picture from a few days ago. Not the best picture, and not the biggest wave of the day, but it's the pic I took so there ya go!




This morning there was a paddle out for some beloved person who (I'm guessing) died. All of his friends/family were wearing yellow leis and wet suits. One woman had a big poster photo of him. He looked like a nice guy, mid 40's maybe. I imagine the paddle out & subsequent surf party would have made him quite happy.

Also this morning I saw two young boys surfing. They were probably around 8 or 9 years old and they were having a blast. It lifted my poor spirits to see them enjoying themselves so completely. Also, I saw a young woman who I sometimes see in the mornings. She was picking up trash, mostly plastic bags, as she walked. We talked a little. I had mentioned to her the other day that I want to start picking up trash once a week as a thank you to give back to this stretch of beach that gives so much to me. She had said that she thinks the same thing & I was happy to see her doing it. It's definitely my turn! In my defense, I DO pick up any broken glass I see, which happens just about everyday. I can't help but think about some little kid stepping on it & there's no way I can just leave it laying there when I see some.

The amount of litter on the beach is very disheartening. People can be capable of both such greatness & such assholery. Sigh. Shout out to the senior class of St. Hedwig Catholic School who were out in their Class of 2013 sweatshirts one morning last week picking up trash. Much appreciated!

What else..... I don't know. Just breathing my way through another day, trying to take life as it comes, live in the present, enjoy the moments, blah blah blah, la te da and all that. Things could be better but they could also be worse. I had a pretty good week. That's enough.

Wherefore Art Thou, Catalina?

I haven't seen Catalina for months. Some days I can see just the shadow of an outline - a hint, a reminder, a promise - but more often than not: nothing. It was different in the beginning. Back in January and February there were days when the island shined like a brown jewel. The sun lit up every nook, every crevice. The air was crisp and bright and the view was spectacular.

I miss the warm beckoning of my island friend but it's okay. A sunny morning will return eventually. My morning walks have been plenty lovely without seeing the face of its lovely mountains. All of my morning skies have been lately covered with a thick marine layer that blocks out everything that isn't immediate. But the day will come and I am patient.

Meanwhile I walk, I pick up shells, I watch and listen to the waves. I smile and say good morning to people I pass on my way. This morning a dolphin was traveling in the same direction as I and so we travelled southbound together for a little while. It was nice. I named the dolphin Catalina.