Saturday, October 28, 2006

Labor Day, 2006

Labor Day dawned bright and clear and turned out to be just as sunny and warm as my two previous trips to the beach this summer. After stopping at the Ibis Market for sandwiches, snacks, and drinks I headed towards the ocean. Side note: the north/south streets in my neighborhood are named after birds alphabetically. It starts with Albatross, which I used to live on, digresses from the system for B and skips C altogether, then takes up with Dove followed by Eagle, Falcon(my street), Goldfinch, Hawk, Ibis, Jackdaw, skips K in favor of Ingalls, and ends on a Lark. It occurs to me that my mother and her siblings who grew up on Eagle Street in Kankakee, Il could flee the midwest and enjoy sunny San Diego and, at the same time, come full circle and live back on Eagle Street. Though it's a lovely lane full of charming craftsman cottages, I don't think I want you all just one block away from me. But I digress.
The beach was terrific; the sand warm, the ocean cool. Adolfo and friends were nearby. Eddie showed up after fighting traffic from LA. We took a long walk up to the north end of the beach and back, stopping to chat with lots of friends along the way. As we were getting ready to hike up the bluff to our cars another friend of Eddie's stopped by and we kept talking late enough to stay and watch the sunset. I got this shot just before the sun completely slid into the sea. And, being careful not to blink, we saw the very last ray of the sun flash a bluish green before drowning beneath the waves.