Winter in Paradise

A couple Sundays ago I was headed home on the 15* and I noticed the Jeep’s temperature gauge said 80°. In January. How awesome is Southern California? Yeah yeah, I know, global warming, but my mood was too high to let those thoughts take over this time. The farther I went, the warmer it got… 82°… 84°…

When it hit 85° I said forget that To Do list, I’m going to the beach. (“Forget” is so the f word I used!) How often do those days come in the middle of winter? Ok, maybe a little more frequently here than other places, but c’mon! EIGHTY-FIVE and SUNNY. Who wouldn’t go to the beach? I’m not sure which would’ve been more of a waste: shirking responsibility for play time or staying indoors when it’s that beautiful outside. I blame T.S. for egging me on.

Time you enjoyed wasting is not time wasted.
~T.S. Eliot

A left onto the 78 pointed me straight at the afternoon sun. I flipped through the iPod while cars swerved around me until Marley’s melodic beat filled the car. “Is this love is this love is this love is this love that I’m feelin...” Why yes, Bob, I believe it is.

Cruising along I glance at the sky to my left and I see this:

Taking that picture proved even more dangerous than searching for music, so when this appeared:

I actually pulled over on the median to snap the shot. The boys from Miramar must’ve been feeling the groove too. Either that, or God is using our Armed Forces to send us love notes. How ironic would THAT be?

Seriously tho, how awesome is San Diego? Where else do you get hearts in the sky on a gorgeous day?

It’s been months since I had a chat with Big Blue**, and I’ve missed her lots. She was beautifully clear in voice and visage, and left a looking glass for me on the sand so I could reflect on some thoughts as I walked.

Anyone that says there are no seasons here just doesn’t know how to see them. Even on this warm, sunny afternoon, the shoreline appeared greyer, and the water abandoned on the sand gave it a wintry expression. Not unfriendly, just different. A quiet countenance, as if Summer was sleeping.

You see that tall white chimney where land meets ocean in the pic below? I walked all the way there. (Click on the pic to expand so you can see better.)

Strolling along, I found many things. Individuality...

and community…

love…

and some rocky parts…

that led to traps long buried in my thinking.

Sometimes you CAN see the forest for the trees tho,

and once you find the stairway out, it’s easy to step through and close the gate on old patterns.

Then you find more love all around you.

Maybe even enough to transcend the rocky parts.

Someone mentioned there was a big game on that day, but I have no clue what the score was. (Later I heard the Chargers were out of the playoffs, so I guess the score was Us: Some; Them: More.)

Towards the end of my walk, I found proof that all rivers really do lead to the sea,

and even if you're left balancing on one leg, at least you’re standing. And you still have wings to fly.

I am amazed and lucky and grateful to live here. There is truly nothing like watching that big orange ball sink into the ocean and paint the sky, and know while you’re watching the light fade that it is sunrise for someone else.

What an awesome day.

*"The 15" is how Californians refer to the north-south highway that is Interstate 15 out here. All roads are "the" then the number. Not I-15 or Route 15, but "the 15." I'm assuming it evolved from "The Number 15 Freeway" or something of that nature. Etymology majors correct me if I'm wrong.

**Big Blue = the Pacific Ocean