In our family the rule is, you cannot visit the Sea, be it the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico...where ever, without putting your feet in or tasting a little bit of the salt on your tongue and enjoying the sandy grit crunching between your teeth. It can be 32° outside – no matter – get in touch with that salt water and be part of a watery connection that has touched the other side of the earth.
What an awe inspiring vastness – so much water – so much horizon that you can see the curve of the planet...the smell of sea life and catch the hypnotic pulse of waves tumbling in and receding back out, curling in again and mixing with the next roll of serf creating a glorious rhythmic sound – scent – texture; And the edges of sea foam over my feet making my toes sink into the moving liquid sand underneath.
The perfection of it makes my eyes tear up, and I have a familiar feeling of extraordinary well-being that I haven’t felt in a while.
My dear, long time Austin friend Ann had to fly into LA for a conference in Redondo Beach so we drove down to meet her. She greeted us at her hotel room door jumping up and down like a small child full of glee “ Hi!! Great to see you! Come on in and come over here because you won’t believe it! You can see Sea Lions right from my balcony! They sound like barking dogs, and you can watch them swimming it’s just so adorable!”
There they were…probably 100 sea lions jumping off of a rock wall, gliding through the water playing with each other and looking quite adorable, it was true! The sounds they made were amazing...different dynamics and different pitches in their calls to each other like a complicated and energetic conversation.
These sounds were not the most graceful sounds in nature but sounds that made you laugh every time they barked and grunted at each other.
However we later discovered that at three in the morning while trying to find sleep the sound coming through the balcony door sounded more like deranged beagles en masse or possibly a gaggle of old men with Laryngeal problems trying to cough something up.
Don’t Sea Lions sleep at night? Evidently not! I think that’s when they start to party on the rocks!
Anyway the sun is up now and Redondo beach is beautiful.
I am amazed that I can be in such a lovely relaxed open place along the Pacific Ocean as this, and still be so close to an enormous city like Los Angeles.
Pretty cool.
The sea on the rocks
A California Brown Pelican...stunning.
Sea plant...also stunning.
A pier...storm worn.
Detail of pier.
