On A Dark Desert(ed) Highway

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Enchanted Seashells

This all happened quite a while ago, but I realized I hadn’t shared it, so here’s the scary story of my almost brush with death; a cautionary tale of the time I might have starred in a Dateline episode.

I had to be somewhere very early, too early to inconvenience anyone by asking for a ride, so I called a car service. I’ll be vague about which one, but it’s one of the big guys.

It was dark; I waited outside, the driver was on time. The first thing I noticed (red flag number one) is that the car stopped and he started it up again. I thought maybe he was saving gas, so didn’t really think too much about it. We had a few stop signs on the way to the freeway and the engine stalled at every one of them and had to be started back up. (red flag number two). I was a bit concerned and that’s probably when I should have told him to turn around and found another form of transportation but I didn’t.

The driver spoke no English. I mean, ZERO. I managed to learn that he was from Colombia. I could see the Google map on his phone was in Spanish. I spoke a bit of Spanish so we were able to sort of communicate.

Finally on the freeway, his car was going VERY SLOW, well under the speed limit. The engine hadn’t stalled again, though. (another red flag.)

The driver wore very thick glasses and seemed to have a difficult time seeing the road as he was slightly weaving out of his lane. It’s a good thing that it was so early with not many cars on the road. I don’t think he was drunk; I think he couldn’t SEE the road. (red flag!)

The headlights also seemed to be malfunctioning; he’d turn them off and on and the car would sort of slow down and speed up, which was reallyreally freaking me out.

I was beginning to get a little more panicky every second, and even more so when, for some reason, he took the wrong exit on the freeway. We were in a rural area that was heavily wooded- no houses, no stores; nothing.

The very worst case scenarios were running through my head at warp speed. We were on a frontage road with no lights and no people. I thought there was a good possibility that I was going to be the victim of a horrible crime, I really did.

If the worst happened, no one would find me out in the middle of nowhere on a dark, deserted highway. I was petrified, thinking of all the horror stories I had heard about getting in cars with strangers.

Loudly, I commanded, “HEY! This is the wrong exit. GET BACK ON THE FREEWAY NOW!”

I had my hand on the door and 911 ready to be called on my phone. I was ready to bolt and run. I was terrified.

For a brief moment that seemed to last for days, he hesitated, and then, thankfully, turned around. We got back on the freeway, and at which point he was completely lost. I had to direct him the rest of the way to my ultimate destination but not before his car stalled AGAIN at the final stoplight.

I leapt out of his car while it was still slightly moving and RAN into the building. It took forever for my heart rate to subside and the adrenaline to stop pouring through my body. I was as shaky as the time I got an EpiPen for a bee sting. I had to force myself to breathe and slowly regained my calm.

There were so many red flags 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 that I ignored. Never again!

Friends have asked me if I reported the driver. I thought about it, but I didn’t. Although it was scary, nothing bad actually happened. I was so grateful to be alive and unharmed that I wanted to forget all about it. However, I don’t think his vehicle was going to last much longer, so maybe he’ll figure out that driving people around isn’t the right career choice.

The lesson is to listen to your gut in all life circumstances. If something doesn’t feel right, it most likely is a warning that should be heeded.

I am 1000% grateful that the universe and all the angels once again protected me from harm.

Have you ever experienced a similar scary event?

Vintage San Diego: Bays, Bars, and Books

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Enchanted Seashells

I don’t talk much about the part of Southern California where I live; other than my beach, lagoon, and the stupid local government. I’m about thirty or forty miles or so from the city, and while I don’t often get down there, I do love old pictures that chronicle the history of San Diego far more accurately than words.

Here’s a photo of San Diego Bay taken in 1892 from the vantage point of State Street and Broadway. It all looks calm and free of tourists, exactly how we locals like our life here in SoCal.

I always thought the oldest bar in San Diego was the Waterfront, but it’s not, because the Waterfront opened in 1933 when prohibition was repealed,

The oldest bar in San Diego is the Tivoli Bar, opened as a saloon in 1885. It’s located on a lot originally owned by Alonzo Horton who helped develop most of downtown San Diego.

Built in 1864, the building was first called the Walker House and functioned as a boarding house, feed store, and blacksmith shop. The Walker House was converted into a saloon and kitchen in 1885. The original bar (still there) was built in Boston and brought to San Diego by ship around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, a journey which took three to four months.

The original cash register from the turn of the 20th century and the old safe are still displayed in the bar.

The Tivoli Bar has hosted many famous characters including Wyatt Earp and his wife Josephine, whose photos are prominently displayed over the entrance to the bar, along with Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren.

The bar flourished during a time when San Diego was a boomtown and the Gaslamp was the city’s red light district, an area then known as the Stingaree. A warning sign from the time reads: “This area is known to be populated by anarchists, confidence men, cut throats, shady ladies, hop heads, perverts and thieves.”

Here’s an 1882 crime report from a local newspaper: “About 8 o’clock on Friday evening, a fracas occurred in the Tivoli Saloon between Gus Young and one Ballantine, in which the former was struck over the head with a chair in such a forcible manner that the latter is of no further service, and will have to be sent to a furniture store for repairs.”

I bet there were some wild times inside the Tivoli–if only the walls could talk! It’s a certified dive bar and I can’t believe I’ve never been there. I think it’d be fun to take the train downtown and check it out.

Have you heard of reporter and author Max Miller?

Max Miller was a reporter for the San Diego Sun and author of twenty eight books. In 1932, he wrote I Cover the Waterfront, an interesting account of San Diego’s port community that inspired Hollywood movies and became the title of a jazz standard sung by Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan, but sadly, NOT Leon Russell.

The book’s characters include true-life sea captains, Portuguese fishermen, flying squid, sparkling Garibaldi fish, movie stars, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and a beautiful young woman who got away.

Miller also drew from his experiences living in Everett, Washington and when he attended the University of Washington. He also wrote Harbor of the Sun: The Story of the Port of San Diego, which is a fairly difficult book to locate. He died in La Jolla.

Here’s Sarah Vaughan with her 1946 version of I Cover The Waterfront (I couldn’t find a Leon Russell connection this time at all…LOL).

FYI: This is not a post written with the intention to extol any vacation virtues of San Diego. We REALLY have far too many visitors here but I’m sure there are other lovely places to choose for a holiday…

Incoming Tide

Posted on June 28, 2025 by Enchanted Seashells

There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond to the mysterious forces that create the tide. — Rachel Carson

This particular beach is a favorite for locals to surf and tidepool, so we are always a bit vague as to the specific location to protect it from being overrun by ill-mannered tourists who trash our beaches.

Oceanside Rock Garden

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Enchanted Seashells

This sounds like so much fun! I guess it’s where you can find me when Mom and Dad are here and I’m with the Angel Kids while they’re out surfing.

Oceanside Harbor staff created a Rock Garden for free family fun. It’s located in the far northeast area of the Harbor near the “A” Dock.

All are welcome to leave a painted rock, take one home to create rock art, or work on one at the nearby picnic table to leave with the others. Spread positivity! Kids can stack rocks, too–make a cairn for others to admire.

(I’m not sure who took this photo because someone shared it with me, but credit to whoever it was.)

Winter Surf + Dolphins

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

Surf is forecasted to be more than eight feet today, but this is what I saw early this morning.

I hope you can access this video because that’s where I was lucky enough to capture the jumping dolphins!

View post on imgur.com

Surfers having fun!

View post on imgur.com

Word of The Day: Komorebi

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

Komorebi is a Japanese word that’s more of a feeling, that of “sunlight leaking through trees”. It describes the loveliness and wonder of rays of light dappling through overhead leaves, casting shadows on the forest floor.

There is a profound peace and sense of tranquility with komorebi. It creates a mood of calming gentle energy, reminding us of our connection to the earth.

Komorebi is comprised of several parts of different words: “Ko” means tree or trees. “More” means: something that comes through, something that shines through or seeps through. “Bi” means: sun or sunlight.

I’m grateful for these transitory moments of beauty, as if time stands still in abeyance of SOMETHING, as we observe nature’s simple but profound tenuity and we can deeply, finally– fully breathe.

Vibrant Pacific Northwest

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

Here’s a tour of the dramatic, colorful state of Washington:

Check out the Northern Lights (My son took these pics of the Aurora Borealis, not me)

A spectacular sunset, no filters needed:

Leaves in full color; red…

…and yellow:

So very green, the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest:

Morning blues:

Evening; a kaleidoscope of colors during sundown on the Salish Sea:

Come With Me

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

“I know you’re tired but come, this is the way…” Rumi

It may look like a hot and dusty trail, but I think it’s paradise. Let’s explore this path together.

Interesting Facts About Germany: University of Göttingen (In English and German)

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

My son spent his junior year abroad at the University of Göttingen but never knew about some of its important historical connections.

Randomly, I found out about an interesting educator, Emmy Noether, from the early 1900s.

“What will our soldiers think when they return to the university and find that they are required to learn at the feet of a woman?”

That was the response of more than one (male) faculty member at the idea of Emmy Noether joining the University of Göttingen to teach mathematics in 1915.

Instead of receiving the title she deserved, Emmy spent years teaching courses, often under the name of a male faculty member.

The official hierarchy dictated that it was HIS course and she was an assistant. More egregiously, she wasn’t paid for her work; she relied on the support of her family to survive.

In 1919 she was permitted to officially teach and began receiving a small salary in 1922.

As a teacher, Emmy was known to speak loud and fast, for being generous and thoughtful, and genuinely cared about her students.

In addition to being an excellent teacher, she also made numerous significant contributions to research in mathematics and physics.

The other interesting fact about Göttingen is something I wasn’t aware of until I watched the Academy Award winning film Oppenheimer.

In 1926, the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer left Cambridge for the University of Göttingen to study under Max Born. Göttingen was one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical physics. (I didn’t know that fact, either!)

World War II interrupted the work and lives of most American physicists. In 1942, Oppenheimer was appointed to the Manhattan Project, code name for the project formed to develop an atomic bomb.

My son attended UofG to further his advanced degrees in Germanic languages and literatures, not the world of science.

Because I am THAT KIND OF MOM, I visited him while he was in Germany and spent a week there. I actually stayed in a visitors room in his dorm. This structure was built sometime during the cold war era, at least I think it was, because it was DISMAL and gray and cold and unwelcoming and the bathrooms were hardly luxurious – but it was fun to see the original Angel Boy in action and meet his classmates and friends.

Best of all, I got to be the obnoxiously proud mom as we did a lot of sight seeing and he was able to use his fluent German language skills all over the country.

Except for (and because of) the snowy blizzard debacle, it was a memorable Germany adventure.

A big thank you to Herr Professor Angel Boy for helping me properly translate my words.

Ein großes Dankeschön an Herrn Professor Angel Boy, der mir geholfen hat, meine Worte richtig zu übersetzen.
________________________________________________________________

Interessante Fakten über Deutschland auf Deutsch: Universität Göttingen

Mein Sohn verbrachte sein erstes Studienjahr im Ausland an der Universität Göttingen, wusste aber nichts über einige der wichtigen historischen Zusammenhänge.

Zufällig erfuhr ich von einer interessanten Pädagogin, Emmy Noether, aus dem frühen 20. Jahrhundert.

„Was werden unsere Soldaten denken, wenn sie an die Universität zurückkehren und feststellen, dass sie zu Füßen einer Frau lernen müssen?“

Das war die Reaktion mehrerer (männlicher) Fakultätsmitglieder auf die Idee, dass Emmy Noether 1915 an die Universität Göttingen kam, um dort Mathematik zu lehren.

Anstatt den Titel zu erhalten, den sie verdiente, unterrichtete Emmy jahrelang Kurse, oft unter dem Namen eines männlichen Fakultätsmitglieds.

Die offizielle Hierarchie schrieb vor, dass es SEIN Kurs war und sie eine Assistentin war. Noch schlimmer war, dass sie für ihre Arbeit nicht bezahlt wurde; Sie war auf die Unterstützung ihrer Familie angewiesen, um zu überleben.

1919 erhielt sie offiziell die Erlaubnis zu unterrichten und ab 1922 erhielt sie ein kleines Gehalt.

Als Lehrerin war Emmy dafür bekannt, laut und schnell zu sprechen, großzügig und rücksichtsvoll zu sein und sich aufrichtig um ihre Schüler zu kümmern.

Sie war nicht nur eine hervorragende Lehrerin, sondern leistete auch zahlreiche bedeutende Beiträge zur Forschung in Mathematik und Physik.

Die andere interessante Tatsache über Göttingen war mir erst bewusst, als ich den Oscar-prämierten Film Oppenheimer sah.

1926 verließ der Physiker J. Robert Oppenheimer Cambridge und ging an die Universität Göttingen, um bei Max Born zu studieren. Göttingen war eines der weltweit führenden Zentren für theoretische Physik. (Das wusste ich auch nicht!)

Der Zweite Weltkrieg unterbrach die Arbeit und das Leben der meisten amerikanischen Physiker. Im Jahr 1942 wurde Oppenheimer in das Manhattan-Projekt berufen, Codename für das Projekt zur Entwicklung einer Atombombe.

Mein Sohn besuchte die UofG, um seine weiterführenden Abschlüsse in Germanistik zu machen, nicht in der Welt der Naturwissenschaften.

Weil ich so eine Art Mutter bin, habe ich ihn besucht, als er in Deutschland war, und eine Woche dort verbracht. Ich wohnte tatsächlich in einem Besucherzimmer in seinem Wohnheim. Dieses Gebäude wurde irgendwann in der Zeit des Kalten Krieges erbaut, zumindest glaube ich, dass es so war, weil es trostlos und grau und kalt und abweisend war und die Badezimmer kaum luxuriös waren – aber es hat Spaß gemacht, seine Freunde zu treffen und den ursprünglichen Angel Boy in Aktion zu sehen.

Das Beste von allem war, dass ich die unglaublich stolze Mutter sein durfte, da wir viel Sightseeing machten und er seine fließenden Deutschkenntnisse im ganzen Land anwenden konnte.

Abgesehen (und wegen) des Schneesturm-Debakels war es ein unvergessliches Deutschland-Abenteuer.

Photo Journey of South Lake Park

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

A new walking trail opened up in the city of San Marcos.

It’s inland and a bit of a drive, so it’s best to get there in the early morning or late afternoon because the temps are going up.

The trail is only a mile or so, not at all strenuous, but the views are magnificent with California lilacs and mature ceanothus surrounding the South Lake Reservoir — built in 1959, although it hasn’t been used as a source of drinking water since 1984.

I doubled back instead of completing the easier loop and that added an extra mile to the hike.

There’s a lot of coastal scrub, coots, ducks, redwing blackbirds, deer, bobcats, and coyotes. I wish I had seen deer; maybe next time! South Lake is also home to a rare native turtle; the Western Pond Turtle, and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t see them, either.

Definitely remember to bring water and a wide-brimmed hat as it gets super toasty in the sun!