Tag Archives: West Coast

December Sunset Artistry: Opacarophile

Posted on by
5

Do you love to look up at the sky as much as I do?

Opacarophile is the term to describe one who loves sunsets. It’s derived from the Latin word opacare (dusk or sunset) and the Greek word phile (love)

SoCal has amazing December sunsets with breathtaking hues of pink and coral and blue-gray.

About ten minutes later, the colors deepened to glowing oranges, bold fuchsias, and salmon.

Lots of people were out walking but I seemed to be the only one looking up and taking photos of the sky so I proudly confess to being an opacarophile.

Beachy Walkabout

Posted on by
2

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.

Wavescape

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Another Day, Another Sunset

Posted on by
6

Walked the beach last night and the sunset was spectacular. No Green Flash though, and no whales or dolphins either, but it was the first warm evening with a hint of the summer to come.

The beach was crowded with happy people emanating positive thoughts and cheery greetings because it appears that we are collectively anticipating the rise out of darkness.

I had a fun chat with an adorable high school boy who had come out of the water after the sun went down. I told him how I used to pick up my son at the beach and he would be the only one still out in the water after dark. If you listen closely, I bet you could hear faint echoes of my voice yelling at him, “GET OUT OF THE WATER NOWWWW!” I sent the young man on his way with the admonishment to stay safe ‘cos moms worry.

Another day, another sunset. Mother Nature is magnificent.

Spindrift

Posted on by
4

We’re enjoying a wintry Santa Ana wind event here in SoCal. It’s warm and sunny with gusty winds about 15-25 miles per hour–not bad enough to cause damage. I hear it’s much windier north of us.

The National Weather Service defines a Santa Ana as “Strong down slope winds that blow through the mountain passes in southern California. These winds, which can easily exceed 40 miles per hour are warm and dry and can severely exacerbate brush or forest fires, especially under drought conditions.”

It makes for beautiful ocean views and a bit of spindrift, spray blown from the crests of waves by the wind. Also one of my favorite words because it sounds magical.

Spindrift.

Even though there were no whales or dolphins this time, it’s still the ocean and that’s plenty to be grateful for.