We had rain, hardly enough to do anything but wet the street and sidewalk. After, the sky was painted with spectacular clouds and bonus moon sightings!
At the lagoon.
After the lagoon, walking up the hill, homeward bound.
#WordlessWednesday
A few sprinkles of welcome rain over the weekend made perfect timing for a beach walk.
Look at this GIGANTIC skeleton for Halloween. Not too scary, right?
Then I saw some literal beach bunnies on the upper sidewalk.
Beautifully overcast, no whales or dolphin, but the ubiquitous surfer reigns supreme.
Not this time.
My son takes the greatest photos.
A couple weeks ago, Lady Debbie, a commercial fishing boat, ran aground south of Westport, Washington. Luckily, there were no injuries and all six crewmembers walked away.
I wonder why she’s still there, unsalvaged, because it looks like it’s already starting to deteriorate and is now a canvas for taggers.
I wasn’t with the fam on this surfing beach trip so I didn’t get to actually see the vessel, but the last time I was there, I discovered a treasure trove of sand dollars which made me VERY happy.
There are hardly any plants that grow in the sand here, so when I saw these marshy reeds up against the seawall, I peeked through and snapped a few photos of the pretty ocean.
I just got home from having surgery for a spot of basel cell carcinoma on my shoulder. The anesthetic is wearing off and my arm is sore and achy.
Even though the cancer was caught early thanks to my amazing dermatologist, let me tell you that it’s NO FUN to endure a biopsy and the subsequent treatment.
I’ve had Mohs surgery before for basel/squamous cell skin cancer on the back of my neck and that was even less fun because they had to dig deeper and my movements were limited for a longer period of time.
Since then, I’ve been more diligent about staying out of the sun, wearing a big floppy hat and UV sleeves to protect my arms while gardening.
There will be no more four-hour suntanning marathons at the beach with baby oil or cocoa butter.
According to my doctor, the damage was done decades ago when that was all we did during summer vacation; lie out in the sun. Because I live in Southern California, there’s a LOT of sun and lots of opportunities to attain that deep bronze-y glow.
I’m sure this won’t be the last time I have to endure these kinds of procedures. I also had about five pre-cancerous spots removed from my face and chest, but so far none of the suspicious areas are melanoma, the scariest diagnosis of all.
While I’m indoors on the sofa, out of the sun, I thought it’d be a good time to remind everyone to use sunscreen and wear protective clothing when you’re outside.
Another good suggestion is to visit a dermatologist and get checked out so you’ll have an established baseline for the future.
Now I’ll head over to Amazon and look for adorable things to buy for the almost three-year-old Angel Girl. Whatever it is MUST be pink and she loves Hello Kitty. She’s definitely MY little one, that’s for sure!
Three dolphins jumped out of the water directly in front of me.
I was rummaging in the bag for snacks for a very hungry Angel Boy, when he shouted, “Grandma, a shark, look near the jetty!”
Immediately, my eyes laser focused toward the spot where he was pointing, and I could see that it wasn’t a shark but a trio of shiny dolphins!
Dolphins make me happy. Seeing a dolphin with my favorite boy makes me even happier.
I tried to snap a pic but wasn’t quick enough. They were headed north, sharply silhouetted by the rays of the summer sun setting low toward the horizon,
Instead, I was able to capture the multiple joys of my two favorite Angel Boys.
History repeats itself as the sun goes down and I’m calling both of them to COME OUT OF THE WATER, IT’S TIME TO GO HOME!
“Five more minutes, Grandma. Daddy says to tell you five more minutes.”
I experienced a major deja vu moment of standing in that same spot many times over the years as I shouted at the top of my lungs for the original AB to come out of the water because it was completely DARK.
Half an hour later, tired and sandy, we head home to a shower, more food, and an exhausted but happy boy falls immediately asleep.
Simple joys are the BEST.
On my beach walk, I noticed an inordinate number of surfers at Tamarack simply sitting on their boards. From my vantage at the top of the steps, I could see up and down the coast and I saw zero waves which made me wonder why there were dozens in the lineup.
In fact, I took a pic and sent it to my son to show him how odd it looked to see all those people just sitting there in nonexistent surf; conditions we refer to as Lake Pacific.
After a few minutes, I noticed the line of incoming waves looked like they were increasing in size. Ahh, I thought to myself, it’s a building swell and these surfers were savvy, waiting for it to happen.
When I got home, I checked, and the surf forecast for Carlsbad is three to five feet with sets to six feet, and growing.
This is just the beginning. The waves emanating from the South Pacific are forecasted to reach 8-10 feet and more, especially at Sunset Cliffs. Fun times, indeed!
Hopefully, there will still be good waves when the Angels come down for a visit, but not THAT big!
The beach was overcast but the waves were full of surfers. The swell looks to be about three feet or so, but I heard it’s building to five feet by Friday, not that this knowledge impacts my life in any way as I don’t surf and never go in the water, but it’s pretty to look at and hear and smell the salty sea air.
Mostly I look for dolphin or whales or my eyes are laser focused on the Angels when they’re here.
Happy Sunday to everyone except the idiotic Supreme Court.
I can see this area called Marja Acres from my backyard and it’s several blocks away, but even so, I watch and hear this land rape on a daily basis, and it makes me feel sad and angry.
It’s one of the very last pieces of land around here that hadn’t yet been violated by earth movers and concrete and plundered by developers who don’t care about anything except making money for themselves. They tore down a couple of nurseries, a little old fashioned store, and a couple of other businesses that had been here for decades, coexisting peacefully amongst the native flora and fauna.
Here’s what the plan is, to build a strip mall and way too many homes without any consideration for the existing community so negatively impacted by yet another ugly and unnecessary development.
We fought against it, of course; to no avail, as usual.
Even more sadly for me, there was no thought nor consideration for the creatures that lived here: coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, possums, birds of prey, AND RATS. They’ve all been displaced and this is where our RAT infestation emanates from.
I swear, this city continually never fails to disgust me.
It was too hot too early to walk the full six mile round trip to the Pacific Ocean and back, so I settled for a longish trek around the lagoon with detours to observe it from different perspectives.
I ended up walking mostly all the way to the beach anyway and stopped at Rite Aid to buy myself a treat but nothing looked fun or appealing or was small enough to fit in my little backpack, so I continued on my journey.
Looking east from a secret side street overlooking Snug Harbor and the swan boats on Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
It wasn’t even 9am and the little beach was full of families enjoying Father’s Day and paddleboarding and kayaks. Thank goodness there’s no gigantic mall marring the view on the south shore.
Well, well, well, it seems like we have a very low tide, too, combined with our drought situation.
It’s not often that one could literally walk all the way around the lagoon to the beaches on the south side. I was wearing new shoes and didn’t want to ruin them in the muck, but for once it was entirely possible.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 