Wrinkled Earth

My Travel Log: 

Continuing my travels along the beach which stretches from Oceanside to Torrey Pines (my foot travels so far) I have discovered some interesting things, to me anyway.  I've discovered the best beaches (without stones and rocks), I've seen palatial homes hemmed in by tattered and weathered shacks, and I've determined the favorite surf breaks by the number of surfers clamoring for a wave.  I've seen certain spots where excess seaweed is washed up from an apparent underwater seaweed field nearby, and I've witnessed the Snowy Egret feeding along the shore as the wave recedes back to the ocean uncovering a bug to eat.  

Something that is very familiar and obvious is the ever-present sign warning of bluff failure. 

Along our beaches we have high bluffs and cliffs scattered throughout the topography.  Some of them are really high and the dangerous.  The wind and weather and of course the ocean has had a severe effect on their stability.  Through erosion, soil and rock are being dissolved from the earth’s crust and washed down onto the beach.  As the bluffs weather, they become textured and wrinkled waiting for the gradual destruction from the elements. 

Some of the residences along the bluffs are in precarious positions.  Owners and the local governments collaborate to try and shore up the bluffs to prevent their collapse. And walkers and sunbathers are warned of their danger.

But there is something beautiful about the way nature slowly reclaims the land back to itself through time.  I found this spot where erosion from nature is making its mark; what texture, what design and style.  And in time it will all wash onto the beach and be swept out into the ocean.

 

 

Stacking Stones

The Southern California beach access was just opened for walkers, joggers and those who need some fresh air.  (It was opened earlier for the surfers, swimmers, and paddle boarders.)  No, you cannot lay your blanket on the sand to enjoy natural vitamin D, you must keep moving.  And you are officially reminded of the local rules by the bland voice constantly blurting out threats over the loudspeakers calling out the malingerers.

So up and down the beach the masses strolled without purpose.  Some stopped beneath an overhanging bluff, wet from seeping water from above, where there was a line of stones stacked one on the other:  Rock balancing or stone stacking, they call it.  Some reached out and added to the formations, but most just looked and admired the handiwork and patience of those unknowns who balanced the rocks, one atop the other.

Were these freshly constructed?  Were they built before the beaches were closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic?  Are these a sign that, “We’re back?”  Are these a monument to the sacrifices we have made waiting for the beach to open?  A sign of remembrance?  A trail marker showing that you are on the right path?

Rock stacking is popular along the California beaches where these ocean rocks and stones are easily found.  It takes time to find the perfect stone in the surf, smoothed over time from pounding waves, grinding them down to the flat mass that is perfect for beach stone stacking.   And in solitude a hand is dipped into the cold wave and the perfect rock is retrieved to add it to the shrine being built. 

With a bit of imagination and a steady hand, the rock stacks are carefully constructed.  Each stone is selected with purpose:  some for color, some for size and some for shape.  The work is slow and intentional, as each stone is judiciously placed on the stack.  A balancing act, so to speak.  

Some do it for the simple fun or challenge, some do it with a spiritual purpose, others do it to leave their mark: “We were here… and here is an Instagram pic of the proof!”

As Joshua did thousands of years ago, rocks were piled in the middle of the Jordan River as a reminder to the future generations of what had happened at that spot.   But tonight, I would like to think that the chimneys of rocks are as a footprint of those who, through creative and meditative activity, rejoiced in the spirit of their freedom as we begin to put the pandemic behind us.