Category Archives: Beaches, Mostly Carlsbad

Local Politics: An Update

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I don’t think I have many readers from my specific town, but if I do, and if you’re in District One, pleasepleaseplease vote for Nate Larson!

He went to high school with the Original Angel Boy, and he’s the first real breath of fresh air we’ve seen in a long time.

He’s way better than the christian therapist who was ordered by a judge NOT to refer to herself as “Dr.” because her PhD didn’t come from an accredited university, and she was being disingenuous and duplicitous by referring to herself as “doctor” (that’s my opinion). For reference, check out https://thecoastnews.com/court-rules-against-burkholder-after-challenge/

Her PhD is from a non accredited Christian university which only allows her to use her PhD within the auspices of her church and not as she has been doing-using it to confuse the public. Additionally, The Fair Political Practices Commission issued a warning to her for not disclosing all of her sources of income. Her husband is part of the building industry. https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/…/article…

As far as I can tell, this woman has done NOTHING to improve life for any of us in our district. The few times I’ve actually called her for help, I got none. Zip. Nada.

[As an aside, the Original Angel Boy, who IS the recipient of a YALE PhD, absolutely NEVER refers to himself like that and I’m the only one who does, mainly because I’m an obnoxiously proud mom and he’s humble, unassuming, and UNpretentious.]

Nate would be the best choice for our entire community. Even though it’s probably too late to save our little beachy town from looking like a sadder, poorer version of Orange County with rampant overdevelopment and hideous designs, somebody like Nate might actually be the voice we need to keep things from further deterioration and degradation.

Tropical Storm Rachel is Coming To Town + Ms. Rachel and Cosmic Influences

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Southern California is once again in the path of a potentially serious weather event — Tropical Storm Rachel– or Ms Rachel as I refer to this elemental powerhouse.

Forecasts continue to fluctuate regarding the intensity of this storm: one minute we’re going to have a direct hit as it picks up strength and in the next minute, we’ll barely receive any rain at all. Currently, she’s approximately 546 miles from me.

North of me, ahead of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Rachel, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach are already experiencing flooding. In my town, the coastal flooding has completely taken away a beach parking lot.

I’m not worried about flooding where I live, but as always, I will be prepared just in case Mother Nature decides to surprise us with her fury. I remember a couple years ago when Hurricane Hilary was supposed to come close and it was hardly more impactful than a medium sized storm.

Do you know the other Rachel, better known as Ms. Rachel?

She’s an American children’s educator, YouTuber, and activist.

She created the YouTube series Ms. Rachel, which combines original songs and classic children’s music with a focus on early language development for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Ms. Rachel is amazing, even though my two Ferals are a bit older than her targeted demographic.

In response to Macklemore’s donation, in September, Ms. Rachel pledged one million dollars to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

“We have a moral obligation to use our privilege and platforms to protect our children and human rights.”

Like Mack Ms. Rachel walks the walk.

Macklemore’s 3-stop European Free Palestine Tour sold out immediately following its announcement. Proceeds from the tour will go to organizations supporting Palestine after the rapper was removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour for his comments supporting Palestinians

“Art will always be a form of resistance,” Macklemore wrote in a post on Instagram.

We need more humans like Macklemore and Ms. Rachel. It would be super cool and super cute if they performed some songs together.

All of this is happening during the new moon in Libra on 10/10, also opening a portal that amplifies the energy of new beginnings, completion, and shifting out of old cycles. Along with Venus in retrograde, it’s a great time to manifest our heart’s desires.

I love Ms. Rachel because, like Mr. Rogers, she’s a real person and teaches important life skills:

Heatwave in SoCal

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Yesterday around noon, my car registered the temperature at 106 degrees.

SoCal is definitely suffering from another record breaking heatwave, but at least it’s more of a Santa Ana type event with lower humidity and moderate winds. As always, I try to find the silver lining.

It’s been unbearably hot to be outside for more than a few minutes, but it cools off a bit at night, so it’s tolerable. Barely.

The daytime dry heat is draining everything my body keeps producing as a result of this hellish rhinovirus, which is great, but now it’s decided to morph into a sinus infection, so I can add headache and sinus pressure to my list of complaints.

I’m up extra early to get things done before it’s too hot to go outside without exhibiting signs of heatstroke. The garden is parched; watering really makes no difference, and I’ve just accepted that this isn’t a great year for my plants. I’ll wait for the Super El Nino which is supposed to start this winter, when we’ll finally get some measurable sky water.

We have about another week of this super hot weather until there’s some relief.

I don’t know how many times I have to read another public service announcement about not leaving kids or pets in the car when it’s this hot (or anytime, actually). Even more egregious are the warnings about hiking with your dogs in this extreme heat. Are people really this clueless? (That’s a rhetorical question, obviously.)

Sky Sensuality: Peace and Serenity

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I woke up to this sexysexy tropical sky. Even if none of these heavenly clouds brought any rain, only extremely high humidity, aren’t they breathtaking?

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I look up to the sky for peace and serenity.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

#WordlessWednesday

Treasures of The Heart

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Not too long ago, we were at the beach and while the ‘rents were surfing (of course), the Ferals and I searched for treasures in the sand. (The kids also surf, but this time the waves were too big for them.)

Suddenly, Feral Boy shouted, “Grampsie (my new moniker), look at what I found for you!” and he poured this heart into my outstretched hand.

It’s really really difficult to photograph properly. My pic doesn’t do its beauty justice at all.

It’s a tiny, shiny, perfectly formed heart.

“OMG, are you kidding me, did you really just find this NOW?”

“Yup, right here! Is it a keeper?”

“It’s a HEART! Of course it’s a for sure keeper, but don’t you want it for yourself?”

“No, Grampsie, it’s for you.”

“Let me see!” yelled Feral Girl, “I want to see what it is!”

“Wow, that’s really cool, T!”

How crazy was it for him to find this little heart by happenstance? Or was it happenstance?

I told them it must be very special and meaningful and I’d keep it safe, but if they ever wanted it back, I’d be happy to return it.

So far, it looks like I’m the keeper of the heart treasure, and that makes MY heart full. I promise to hold on to their hearts forever, no matter how Feral/Angelic they might become.

I think it’s an Apache Tear, a type of volcanic obsidian made from the fire energy deep within the Earth.

How it made its way to the beach, buried in the sand, is a lovely mystery, or were we meant to find it?

Apache Tears are named after a Native American legend about the grief of Apache women mourning warriors who died during a 1870s conflict with the U.S. Cavalry.

It’s an excellent protection stone to help ground our energy into the Earth before, during, and after energy work. Black stones absorb negative energy.

The heart shape adds an element of compassion, self-forgiveness, and emotional warmth to the grounding energy of the stone.

It helps us peek into the core of an issue to assist with deep healing and to lend support during times of sorrow, as well as relieving stress by offering opportunities for positive change.

What an exceptionally magical find from Mother Earth!

It’s just really really difficult to capture the smooth shiny pure blackness, but as long as I’m the keeper of the heart, it’ll live on my bedside table, protecting my dreams, definitely enchanted.

P.S. I’m grandma and the kids started calling me “Grampsie” when Feral Boy started reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I think it’s funnycute and I always answer to the many creative nicknames they’ve chosen for me.

Lunar Eclipse Photo Journey

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I was lucky enough to capture the swift travels of the full moon’a partial eclipse.

I used to think it was the moon that flew across the sky but I learned the rapid journey of the moon is an optical illusion caused by the Earth spinning on its axis, rather than the moon zooming through space. As Earth rotates, it makes the moon look like its traveling westward at a rate of about 15 degrees per hour but that’s really not the case. Like so many other things in life, it’s not what it seems.

That was enough education for one day — it makes my brain hurt — although I’m sure most people already learned that even if I didn’t. I can only assume it was yet another topic on yet another day I didn’t pay attention in school.

I love every phase of the moon and its significance. A partial lunar eclipse symbolizes a powerful period of emotional illumination and a transitional turning point where the subconscious shadow meets conscious awareness. As above, so below.

The moon and
her shadow side
Reveals exactly what we hide

Here’s the first pic with a bit of spooky cloud cover…

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

The eclipse’s progression…

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Almost fully eclipsed, right around 9pm…

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

It’s still oppressively hot and humid here, but that’s supposed to change in the next couple of days, fingers crossed!

Were you able to experience this amazing partial lunar eclipse?

August Full Moon + Partial Lunar Eclipse

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It’s the end of August, time for another full moon and she’s already shining big and bright in the night sky, this time with the added bonus of a partial lunar eclipse.

The weather here in SoCal has been miserable. We’ve had a veryvery hot summer with record temps, which normally isn’t so bad, but the humidity has been sky high and that makes it nearly intolerable, especially at night. We normally only have a dry heat — Santa Ana — which is hot but pleasant, but this moist air is so draining. Since I don’t have A/C, I’ve resorted to a fan to sleep since it never really cools off.

On top of the heat, we haven’t had rain in months. I’ve given up on the garden because there’s really no point in fighting the drought, especially since our water is so expensive. I’d have to literally spend hours a day watering, mostly to no avail since it immediately dries up. The rats and bunnies have taken their toll too, and I’m not sure what the cosmic message is, but I won’t resist it, whatever it is.

Enough ranting about the weather…

From Liverpool Echo

This full Sturgeon Moon will be special because the Earth’s shadow will swallow 96% of the lunar surface overnight on Aug. 27-28, potentially coloring the moon a gorgeous bright red as it bathes in light filtered and refracted by our planet’s atmosphere.

The partial lunar eclipse will occur as Earth passes between the sun and moon during the full moon. Around this time, Earth’s curved inner shadow will appear to creep across the lunar surface while leaving a thin crescent exposed to direct sunlight at the point of maximum eclipse.

For stargazers on the west coast of the United States, the point of maximum eclipse will arrive just a few hours after sunset, while anyone watching from the east coast will hopefully see the lunar spectacle peak around midnight.

The spiritual significance of the August Sturgeon Moon is all about resilience, inner strength, and processing deep emotional truths.

Unlike a solar eclipse, no safety glasses will be necessary.

Don’t forget to charge your crystals and enjoy!

What Is Beauty?

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“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” — Kahlil Gibran

Found on Pinterest

Carlsbad Is A Dangerous Place

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Here’s a message to those of you who are planning summer vacations: You might want to ignore all the feel-good ads and PR campaigns that attempt to lure visitors to this no-longer-little OR charming beach town. Find somewhere else to spend your money.

There are more and more incidents of violent crime.

This one occurred early Sunday evening where an alleged career criminal was arrested for a road-rage stabbing and assault following a minor traffic crash on the northbound Interstate 5 off-ramp to Tamarack Avenue, (this is near me!) The perpetrator allegedly flew into a violent rage after rear-ending their vehicle. The victims were in their twenties and hospitalized.

What exactly is going on here? Here’s a few more from The Coast News:

Carlsbad photographer Robert Koester gets 40 years for sex crimes

CARLSBAD — A professional photographer previously sentenced in San Diego County to 25 years in state prison for sexually assaulting teenage girls during modeling sessions..

Suspect charged in March stabbing near Carlsbad train tracks

CARLSBAD — A 21-year-old Oceanside man has been charged in connection with a March stabbing that left a victim with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

What will it take for city leaders to have a wake-up call? Hello??? They are head in the sand clueless. Here’s some examples of what council meetings look like while violent crime is on the rise:

-Instead of fixing our crappy roads, the city is asking for ideas about how to decorate a couple of traffic circles and a freeway underpass.

-The city spent I don’t know how many millions for a new park, Veteran’s Park, which. no veteran asked for, because if they were queried, I bet they’d say they preferred the money was used for things like safe housing and FOOD.

–Supervisors are giving away helmets to ebiker kids in Carllsbad. Comments on social media are so apt and awesome, and mostly talk about the reckless driving of these pre/teenagers, and observe (rightly so) that if their parents can easily afford a thousand dollar+ ebike, they can absolutely bear the cost of a helmet, which many of the kids don’t even wear.

These are examples of what our friends and neighbors are concerned about: wasted and misspent money, and the rise in crime. I don’t have any personal complaints about our police force; I think they are doing the best job they can, but the city needs to find a better way to keep us safe.

July Moon Rising

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Last night as I was closing the windows, I looked out and up, and witnessed the rising of the moon.

I hadn’t used my real camera in a while, but I knew my phone would never be able to capture the details, so I snapped a few pics with my Canon and this was the best of the bunch…She’s a beauty!

July 2026 full moon
Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Yes, it was really that reddish-orange-gold color, probably from whatever wildfires are raging in the area, and those are the power lines near the lagoon.

Thank you, Mother Moon! Happily, I found a Leon Russell song to accompany a full moon…When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold:

I couldn’t locate a live performance, but it’s still Leon being Leon, Master of Space and TIme.