the last 2 nights the sunset was magnificent. sharron & i were talking about how even though our star does this every single day the wonder never gets smaller. just bigger. all of us gather to watch. a man of perhaps 25 and a little rough around the edges saw me taking this picture. he held up his camera phone to show me his and we chattered for a minute about what to call this color. he was so excited. "it already got 51 likes on facebook!" well, it's amazing. yes it is. we gather to watch and we all agree.
there were 2 summer swimming platforms that will come down next week. lone swimmers cutting through the water. parallell to the shore. and paddleboarders. a mother and son i decided. a bird looking at himself in the mirror. kelp. footprints!
i'm a detective with a pair of binoculars. everything and everyone will be examined. closely.
then there's sharron's house. about 1/4 mile inland hunkered down in a tropical thicket of flowers. a hidden avocado grove.
big white 19th century house. enormous palms. orange & fig trees heavy with fruit. vines laying claim to house and sheds. a gothic novel set in a little california beach town called carpinteria. i was spellbound. imagine living in the middle of a dense grove of avocado trees. they are so tall and their dark branches form canopies. i want to walk down the orchard path some cool night under a full moon and scare the cwap outta myself.
we stayed on the beach. joyce, sharron, and i. enjoyed a mini-art retreat. sketching, painting, writing, telling stories, all that. joyce used to work for bon appetit years and years ago. she knows her way around a kitchen. pot-roast nachos. that's all i'm saying. sharron & i licked our chops and banged our knives and forks on the table. okay, well maybe that was just me. we also went to la super rica in santa barbs one night.
i'm not finished. we have sketchbooks & journals and other thangs to discuss. but right now i gotta go clean the sand off my shoes. finish unpacking the chariot.
meetcha back here, same time tomorrow?
Oh my giddy aunt…
Widows walks, and old gorgeous books, quilts on the ground, dark corners and avocado’s… not to mentioned the blackberry jam.. oh my you sure know how to live Ms. Moss!!!
I just love this blog, Miss Mary Ann. Especially your posts from around LA. Yes. Especially. I was born at Hollywood Presbyterian Hosp. My son lives in the ‘Valley.’ I don’t get back there anymore because I just can’t handle the traffic, smog, and the hustle bustle…oh…and the hugeness of that area! You have a wonderful way of making LA seem like the garden of Eden…you just bring out the best in everything you shoot with that camera. And. How did we all manage to live so long without DIGITAL technology?
Great photos and post as usual! And I am so glad you got to visit with Sharron as well as Joyce. Lucky, lucky you.
I love the ocean, I’m a sunset kinda girl, not a sunrise one, but it was the concept of fresh avocados that made me swoon. Bliss…
I think I need beach and ocean time. Things here have been so fraught with construction and mess and all and I need to renew my spirit. Nothing fancy, just me beside the sea for a long think and a nap and that sense of home. I can’t go right now, though, so thanks for the pictures. Those are some beyond compare sunsets.
the ocean is a magical place. I’ve only seen it once in my lifetime, the other coast; the one on the east and I fell hopelessly in love. It was 1978. I was 19 and just like you do now, I pulled out a baby food jar and scooped up some sand and sea water and brought it home with me. I don’t know whatever happened to that jar but I think of it often. I’m sitting here entranced by your amazing photos and all I want to do is step outside my door and walk down that beach, inhale the salt tinged air and leave my footprints along the way. I could figure things out so much better by the sea. I know I could listen to the beat of the waves all day. I’d never tire of that sound. I think I left a piece of my heart in the sand and I think, someday it will come back to me on the waves. Someday. For now I am going to loose myself in your photos and excited to see more. Bring on Chapter 2 please but give us time to absorb the beauty you’ve placed here.
La Super Rica! I go every time I’m in Santa Barbara – the melted cheese with bacon? – to die for!
Erin in Morro Bay
Beautiful photos! Love Carpinteria and am thinking of going in October. Where did you stay?
You’ve had the best adventures this year!
If you are traveling to Denver, try El Taco de Mexico on 7th & Santa Fe. Painted really yellow and buenisimo!
Beautiful. Beautiful way to start a dull and drab Wednesday morning.Makes me think of Mexico and Puerto Vallarta where I want to go back to…except one of these times sit on my ass and do art for hours on end because I’ll have the time–instead of being there for a rushed 7 or 8 days and trying to cram it all in. I’m taking lessons on how to slow down and do it right!
you lucky, gorgeous photos!
love la super rica! yummers
All the photos are wonderful but that sunset photo about half way through is WOWZA!!
Wow!!
Missy from the bayou
Can’t wait! It all looks most perfectly perfect – what a gorgeous place, i loved the bit about scaring the cwap out of yourself with the avocados!