Touching the Pacific

Pacific Coast, 6x12

I touched the Pacific Ocean on Monday! Walked across a sun-warmed beach and right into the Pacific, which was surprisingly cool, given the heat of the day. 

 

People were sunbathing, and swimming, and surfing. Later, in Carlsbad, where I made the 6x12 painting above, I saw a group of people exercising on the beach. 

 

I also saw surfers, on their boards, surfing some waves, and sitting there, bobbing, waiting. I saw surf buggies, too, real VW microbuses, and vehicles clearly home-altered to serve as campers and surfboard carriers. It was all just so very cool - just like what you see on TV. 

 

I drove through one town, Leucadia, that looked like a hippie-surf town, and seemed like it would be an excellent place to live. A little rough at the edges, a little welcoming. Otherwise, I saw beautiful and highly designed homes and shops, lots of stucco and tile roofs, impeccably kept tiny yards, built right up to the ocean. There's public access to the beaches through small alleys, but once you are in a town or city, you only get glimpses of the Pacific. 

And guess what? It looks a lot like the Atlantic! 

My little painting in the big California landscape

One of the most amazing sights I saw was this string of metal horses jumping across California 79. They're made by a guy named Ricardo Breceda who, according to a TV story, calls himself The Accidental Artist! You can click here to get to his website. He makes just absolutely amazing sculptures. The horse sculpture was breathtaking, and well worth the very scary drive up and over the mountains. 

Here's another sculpture, just past the first one. I know it's hard to see at this size, but if you click on it, you can see it larger. Pretty amazing! 

***

Wouldn't you bring your car to this place? I would. The dirt lawn was swept impeccably, the bumpers or whatever they are were laid out in an exacting order - it was pretty amazing. 

 ***

Huh? Cactus Exit Ahead? By now, I've puzzled over this for days, and 

still don't understand what it means. 

This squirrel kept eating its nuts or whatever it was eating, despite joggers, walkers and dogs. 

 ***

Look at these two photos. It's January, people! And look at the flowers! 

 *** 

 In California, I saw real surfers - and real surf buggies. VW microvans. WOW.

***
Dog of the Day

It's Bentley, out for a walk with his human, near the Pacific Ocean in Carlsbad. He was loving it! 

***

And here's Scruffy! I didn't get the dog's name... (joke)