Hendry’s Beach

The California coastline varies from top to bottom.  Some areas have wide, flat sandy beaches, and others are at the base of rugged cliffs, sometimes accessible, sometimes not.  State law says the beaches are for everyone, and must be accessible.  People in Malibu and some areas south of San Francisco have rich people who won’t grant access, and lawsuits have been fought long and hard.  There is even an app for your phone that tells you where you can access beaches in Malibu, in spite of the fake “No Beach Access” signs put out by land owners on the coast.  Funny, but not funny.

Hendry’s Beach (often called “Henry’s Beach”) is a long-time favorite and a popular one in Santa Barbara.  At low tide, you can walk a long distance, but if you are not careful about the tides, you could get caught!  The ocean is sometimes out enough that a lagoon is formed, and then disappears when the tide comes in.

Beauty in the Time of Covid-19

This is me every morning:  Medusa with her head of snakes. Hopefully I won’t exit this incarnation with beheading, and I will definitely steer clear of men named Perseus.

A professional haircut is out of the question for now.  I won’t even attempt to trim it myself.  Josh says he won’t touch it.  I guess I’ll ride it out and pin it up in the meantime.

Luckily, I don’t go out much in public much these days – certainly not looking like this – but I do have a nice array of hats should I need one.

Creekside

Hunkered down, spending money on groceries in ways not of our norm, enjoying the cold and rain, and getting out for walks. I get off the streets and onto a trail. Here is a view from above a local creek – all slushy brown leaves from last year and new ones leafing out.

It’s been a kick trying to take good pictures with a limited, prime, non-zoom lens. A challenge. So many absolutely dreadful ones, and the occasional good one. Learning curve! Not a bad thing at all. I’m glad I got this X100V – my mind is definitely rethinking how to make an image.

The Tunnel

Sheltering in place and closures of public places and retail and a general curtailment makes for a strange life. Out for a bit of a hike today, I ended up on a trail that goes from a residential neighborhood, under a very busy road, and past a school. I felt like I was in another world – the light was dim as the storm clouds are rolling in. As it is all surreal, these seemed like good ways to process the pictures . . .

Lock Down!

In a state of 40 million, there is a lot of potential for sickness.  The trajectory is 56% of the population will get Covid-19.  That is 22, 400,000 people will get sick.  There are 3 known corona virus victims in the city where I live, and 17 throughout the county.  At least the governor of Califronia is taking a proactive approach to lessening the spread of this virus – the new state mandate is everyone shelter in place, but you can get out to shop for food, get medical care, bank, buy gas.  You can get out for exercise in open spaces.  I cannot believe the fact that kids are flocking to our southern beaches to play and party and crowd together, yet that is youth – indestructible and still in a world of magical thinking.  Yet, I do get it.

Meanwhile, I am sitting here pondering what to do with myself.  The other half is home, working full time and telecommuting again (he is happy).  We sort of tumble over each other at times, but part of that is just life in a smallish house.  Unlike many people, we are going to be fine no matter what happens – income, insurance, access to doctors and care.  Good neighbors.  People to call.  I am pondering because all the things I should avoid suddenly become things I want to do!  I need to really sit down and put a bit of a list together for fun things and necessary things to do.  It would be a great time to do a bit of cleaning – but where do you bring discards if the places such as Goodwill are closed?  Life will continue, no matter what happens, and getting creative and productive is important.  Cabin fever is not something I like, nor do most people, I expect.

I am glad I live in a state, expensive as it is, with problems like every place else, is genuinely concerned about the welfare of its citizens (and non-citizens).  Governor Newsom is working for the people, not for the profiteers.  In this country with poor healthcare and safety nets, all the overlords will be so sad when their worker bees die from the virus because sick leave and health care are unavailable.  How inconsiderate of those damned worker bees.