This has been such a fun project! Only one more day to go, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop blogging. Photography and writing feed my soul.
This particular image was taken when I was with my BFF, Patricia, when we were on one of our adventures, this time in southern CA at Venice Beach. As I look at this, I’m aware once again of the power of the ocean to make me feel humble, peaceful and serene. And the value of friendship.
Don’t you just love looking at a photograph and being instantly transported back to that time and place?
I could write volumes about the ocean and how I feel when I’m there, but I won’t.
I’ll just offer this image that I took last week. It was amazing watching the sun start its descent over the Pacific. I didn’t use any filters, so this is 100% organic.
It reminded me of the George Strait song “Stars on the Water.”
I don’t usually make a big deal out of my birthday. Well, one of them I did … my 30th. Somehow I managed to celebrate for two weeks. (Please don’t ask me any questions about it because I’ll take the 5th) Ha!
But this year on this day, I’ll be celebrating by the Pacific Ocean, taking my Mom’s cremains to the sea. I celebrate her today so it IS a big deal.
She brought me into this world and taught me how to live in it. I am forever grateful, Mom.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love going to the beach. Being near the ocean always has a calming effect for me.
This image is one I took a while back on a particularly beautiful day in Lincoln City, Oregon. I decided to give it a moody look using the Prisma app (my favorite one … this week). Ha!
The light coming through the pier seems to say, “explore … come closer.” So I did. I walked the beach and soothed my soul.
Hello, beach fans! This image was taken right before the rain was rolling in. My daughter and my dog were frolicking on the beach at Pacific City, Oregon. I just love that place. I plan to spend much more time there with my “girls”
A famous rock … no, not Alcatraz. That’s called the Rock, too, but this one is much more beautiful. It’s called Haystack, found not far out to sea from Pacific City.
The little girl gazing at it really gave me pause. I found myself looking at her and pretending to be my younger self. My younger self would be thinking how huge it is. My older self is thinking how grateful I am to be alive to see this wonder of nature.
I was going to continue my series of images that I took at our recent visit to Tubac but this image came in today from my daughter. She’s visiting Bodega Bay CA, a place near and dear to my heart. It’s 82 degrees there right now. Wow! Most of the time it’s a bit chilly and windy, but October is the perfect time to visit this place, as well as San Francisco, just 66 miles away, about an hour and a half by car.
I think she got a great shot … can’t you just feel that spray on your face?
When I lived in northern CA, I used to spend as many weekends as possible at Bodega. Such a beautiful place and I was lucky enough to live only 18 miles away. Lots of interesting beaches and places to investigate tide pools. Great restaurants and gift shops, some tucked away where the average tourist could miss them if they weren’t looking. The lodging is spectacular as well. Nothing like waking up in the morning, walking out on the balcony and seeing that beautiful blue water.
If you’re ever in northern CA and looking for a wonderful day trip, check it out: See Bodega Bay Dang! I’m so jealous right now 🙂
This weeks photo challenge is the Sea. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the sea. Some of my best days and nights have been at the beaches of northern California.
I remember one time when I had to go to Bodega Bay to make sales calls. It happened to be one of those grey, overcast days and I didn’t really feel like driving out there but I had to get the calls out of the way. On the way back to my office, I pulled over at one of the beaches near Bodega and simply sat and watched the sea. It was spectacular to watch the power of the mighty surf as she rolled in, wave after wave.
Because of the weather, there was no one else there but me and God. Magical time; just magical.
This image is the beach in Marina Del Rey (southern CA). The sun had already set, so all I could get was the last vestiges of light on the waves, while watching this man and his child. I added a nostalgic effect because that’s how it felt to me. Namaste’
“Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.”Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Many years ago when I lived in northern CA, I managed a temp service, putting people to work on various assignments. Sometimes that meant answering the phones, cleaning up, interviewing temporary employees, etc., whatever needed to be done. One day the incoming lines were ringing non-stop because we had run an ad and were getting a huge response. I answered one of the lines and there was this very upbeat, vivacious voice on the other end. She said, “My name is Jeanne. Your ex-husband recommended that I call you. I just got here from New Jersey, don’t know anyone and I need a job. Can you help me?”
As it turned out, she had driven alone from New Jersey to California for a brand new start on life after surviving breast cancer. I will spare the details of all she told me during the subsequent weeks, months and years that we knew each other. Actually, we didn’t just know each other – we became the best of friends.
Back to my story … I did find a temporary job for Jeanne that turned into a permanent one, but until she got hired on at that company on a permanent basis, she stayed with me and my teenage daughter, Michele … and we were glad to have her. She was a wonderful cook, had a fabulous sense of humor, became a bright light in our lives, and she loved to grind coffee beans early in the morning so we’d have fresh coffee. That habit used to make Michele groan. “Jeanne,” she would say, “do you have to do that so early in the morning?” Jeanne’s reply was, “Yes, and it’s time to get your butt out of bed. There’s a day out there just waiting to be lived.”
We went to San Francisco quite often in those early days of our friendship just to hang out at Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, eating and drinking our way through restaurants up and down the wharf. We didn’t have much money but would find what we liked best, usually some kind of seafood, and splurge on that. Jeanne liked good wine and good food. So did I. Seafood, wine and cheesecake … we were in heaven.
Among the many things I learned from Jeanne was her belief that we get what we focus on. And that we should expect the best. One example of that was her desire to live in a house close to the Pacific Ocean. So we went to a house that was for sale, walked around it and took pictures. She asked me to snap one of her on the deck of the house looking out at the ocean. She had it developed, posted it on my refrigerator, looked at it every day and told us that she would live in that house. Within a few weeks she met a real estate agent who mentioned to her that the bank had foreclosed on a house out by the ocean and needed someone to live in it while it had some slight renovations done. I guess I don’t need to tell you about the goose bumps we had when we drove out to the house … the very same house that was on my fridge! And guess who got to live there for the next six months? Jeanne.
Fast forward to now. I learned just last week that Jeanne passed away in 2007. I had searched for her for a number of years and never found her. Her son just happened to be on Facebook, told my daughter, and now I know for sure that Jeanne is “sparkling” somewhere … everywhere.
So what does the picture of the shoes have to do with Jeanne? She loved boat shoes and when she got her first paycheck from that job I got her years ago, she bought me a pair. I fell in love with them, too, but haven’t had any in a long time until last week. There I was shopping and saw these shoes. Jeanne spoke to me. “Buy the shoes, Gina.”
Everything is synchronized … on this side of the veil as well as the other. Every time I wear these shoes now, I smile.
This photo is right outside of our back yard. It’s a variety of the Cholla cactus and it likes to find open skin. In fact, it jumps at the chance to do so. Literally. When we first moved here, we were looking at houses and ventured around to look in the back windows of one place. All of a sudden there were about five of these spiny chollas stuck to my ankles. And you can’t just pull them out. You have to be so careful or they’ll work their way into your hands as you do.
There should be signs posted around the desert that say BEWARE OF THE CHOLLAS.
So you’re probably asking yourself, “why would anybody in their right mind live in the Arizona desert?” Good question … if you find the answer let me know. I’ll be packing for someplace by the ocean, preferably on the beach 🙂 Hmmm … Ventura sounds nice right now. Namaste.
Eyes to See 