Storming the New Year

         We've started the new year with an ample baptism on the California central coast. 

        In Cambria and environs 8.5 inches in the last 10 days has washed 2022 away and changed the color scheme from drought brown.

        Rain is forecast for 8 of the next ten days. We've been soaked for 8 of the last 10. We are being warned to expect 5 inches in the next two days.

        Santa Rosa Creek is a water freeway gliding into the Pacific near Moonstone Beach. It's also a zoom-floom. 

        The storm surf is audible from miles away. Its roar and growl thunder the planet's voice. Its power is immense.

        Some are not content to listen and watch.

        Leaks, slides, road closures, lost power and communication, washouts, and localized flooding; California is good at getting things back in operation and  Californians take it in stride, especially on the central coast. We've had a breather between the "atmospheric rivers," and we wait now for the next act. 

        This is a place of "human/nature interface;" mountains, forests, wildlife, the Pacific Ocean. We live here with the knowledge that nature rules. We are cool with that. Still, this rain season is unlike most. 

        See you down the trail. 

        

DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS

DRIFTWOOD DREAMS

      One of the all time great driftwood beaches is the stretch from Shamel Park to Moonstone Beach in Cambria.  

       I wonder what tourists do with all of the pieces they haul off the beach.  I imagine mobiles, picture frames and other art creations populate homes and serve as souvenirs.

     Some of the building though, never leaves the Moonstone, Shamel Park beaches.

     Here's a quick look at a couple of nearly "permanent" driftwood castles.

See you down the trail.

HIGH DRAMA

HUMAN KIND AND NATURE

Take 2

     There is chilling new information since yesterday's post about the great white shark taking a bite out of kayak just off Cambria's Moonstone Beach.  The Cambrian and San Luis Obispo Tribune reporter Kathe Tanner has details.

Link here to read the kayakers dramatic account.

IF YOU LIKE THESE

YOU CAN SEE IT LIVE

Magnificent Yosemite

    You may recall previous blogs where in I profess my passionate love for the majesty of Yosemite National Park,

one of the wonders of the world.  If you would like to see the park from your screen, you can visit live.

Link here to see live webcam shots, courtesy of the National Park Service. 

You have your choice of six cameras.

See you down the trail.

WARNING SIGNS

TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY

First there was one...

 Then there was two

      Kayakers who were enjoying the big blue got a bit more adventure than they wanted when a great white took a chomp out of their craft here on Moonstone Beach in Cambria.

     There is always a bit danger at the shore.

     Today however there is another seasonal warning.

     I know some folks worry about the "nanny state" intrusion
into lives, however I'm grateful for the San Luis Obispo County Health Department diligence. 

DAY BOOK

BEACH SIDE SCENES

Despite the warnings

     Driftwood builders have been busy...

 ....almost as busy as this guy

See you down the trail.

GLEEKS, A HERO SHOT & OBAMA GET'S DOWN

RYAN MURPHY IS A GENIUS

     It takes extraordinary skill to mix teen suicide, sexual identity, bullying and the lethal potential of texting and driving and make it entertaining and joyful.  
     Murphy's Fox network hit Glee does that and more.  The jury is still out on the texting matter, it was last night's "winter finale" and we'll wait until April to learn "Quinn's"fate. But week after week we are treated to marvelous and even mind blowing entertainment ensembles of song and dance, all the while the through line of the soap like drama series embraces weighty matters with intelligence and a bold honesty that is hard to find anywhere else on network television.  

      Glee is not only one of the best programs, it is one of the most important because of the issues it confronts and it's primary target audience, generations much younger than us boomers. Murphy is a hot property with a string of hits but I feel a special kinship.  He's an Indiana lad.  His mother Andy and late father Jim were Indiana friends.  Andy, an extraordinary woman, and I have collaborated on writer's conferences, book promotion and other matters.
      If you haven't seen Glee, you've missed one of the best
shows in television history. Get with it, become a Gleek.

ANOTHER HERO

     I love this shot of John Glen, taken after his historic flight in February 1962.  This started making its way around the net and I thought it should be posted here in case you missed it.

     I remember listening to the launch and the flight while in a Owen Fisher's biology class.  It was a nerve wracking 15 minutes, but like many of you I sensed a new possibility after the successful flight of the first American in space.  

     Glen remains an advocate for space exploration.  I'm on board with that and continue to admire this true hero.  I think this picture represents "cool!"

ANOTHER KIND OF COOL

Get down Mr. Prez

Here's a great scene from the White House Blues Concert

What a great show it must have been!

DAY BOOK

 JUST A COOL WINTER DAY AT THE BEACH

Moonstone Beach at Shamel Park

Radio legend Mike Griffin and Toshi

A gathering.

See you down the trail.

A GOOD DEED

CLEANING SAND AT THE BEACH?

 Moonstone Beach-Shamel Park

 Deed, well done.
But first, the story.

The objective-

 clearing steps

 just over the rise

 at the end of the walk

 an endless supply on Moonstone Beach.

 Dirty steps meet Lana

 Recycling sand for a project

 She reasons

two little buckets won't be missed.

More walks off on shoes.

See you down the trail.