*~ Rant
April 11, 1998

Burning down the house...

Some background... as everyone knows, El Nino is/was hitting the west coast... Well, a discussion somehow got start about how boring the beach was, now that there wasn't as much beach to play around in. I found this addition to the conversation worth saving... - Imp

San Diego Beaches (Fuse, Mar 2)
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I went to Mission Beach in San Diego this weekend. It is true the water has risen; the waves lapped at the seawall. Adventurous children who left the boardwalk shrieked with gleeful horror as each wave hungrily devoured their socks, then spit them out wet.

A middle-aged African-American sitting on the concrete steps taught me how to order drinks in his native language. I have forgotten the name of the language and the words he used, but not the weathered lines in his face, the way he listened intently to what I said, or his easy laugh.

I heard several hideously awful pick-up lines to add to the collection I emailed my coworkers today. We laughed about the audacity of lust over lunch.

I played horseshoes on the sand with college students. From the way they heckled each other you'd have thought they were rooting for opposite teams at the SuperBowl. Every so often one would throw the horseshoe in the water, and the sea would froth with a mad dash of people attempting to retrieve it.

The sun was bright enough to warm, but not glare on the rippling surface of the water. Further out you could see the water change colour from a green-brown to green-blue, where the ocean floor fell away. Even when the surface was chopped by waves, one could see the colour change.

The relentless churning waves had strewn broken shells and driftwood onto the shore. Tangled seaweed wrapped itself around beach toys, rocks, and unidentifiable lost somethings. Old men with metal detectors picked through it all.

The seaside bars were packed with beachgoers who would otherwise be lounging on the sand. It was dizzy and busy, filled with light and noise and alcohol and smoke. The rooptop patios were packed with intoxicated twenty-somethings leaning on the railing and looking at the swells.

There is rather a lot to see at the beach, when there is no beach.

Fuse

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