The Best of Friends

My life has been so blessed of late, really ever since I made the move out of La Conchita and into Carp. It seems as though I regularly meet the most interesting people just by going out and encountering life in the community. My friend Angela (left) is one of those people. We met at Caje where her boyfriend Kevin works. I remember the day we met, she was sitting with her dog Ohana and she ordered a Health Freak smoothie and a shot of wheat grass. I later found out this was her daily dose. I asked her about the drink. I don't recall what was said after that, it's all history now. Angela is a spiritually centered person with an affinity for making those around her feel good. She's a massage therapist and clued into other natural healing modalities. She's also a biblical scholar, though she might not agree with that appellation, and she'll do almost anything to engage someone in a healthy (?) debate (argument?).

A couple days ago, Angela, Ohana, and I took an afternoon walk along the beach and through the salt marsh, which is a favorite walking path in the town. We found this somewhat hidden beach out where all the wealthy folks have their vacation homes on the beach. There's a point where you can follow the coast on around the point, depending on how high the tide is, or you can go in toward the marsh, which is the way we went, and you'll come upon this serene little beach where the ocean and salt marsh waters mix forming a clear lagoon. The water seemed very inviting but it's still kind of cool this time of year. The area was covered in this colorful ground flower. It actually grows rampant all along the coast. Its leaves are succulent-like and the flower is a light purple with a yellow center. The plant's colors range from yellow to green to purple in varying shades. It is a range of colors I previously thought could only be perceived through a psychedelic experience. And the sand along the shore is so soft, it's like walking in snow. The way it gives under your feet feels like a therapeutic experience. Imagine a mud wrap for your feet. We walked through the sand, back and forth, just taking in the feeling and Angela took a picture of our feet enjoying the sand. Ohana ran to and fro looking for rocks to conquer and lapping up salt water that he'd later expunge (on the patio). Later we got expelled from the salt marsh by a birder who reminded us that dogs are not allowed in the marsh. It's true, there are signs, but Ohana isn't some random dog. He's a sentient being with a big heart and not into eating birds. Below are some pics from the area but the flowers shown are not the flowers described above that were all over. Those are just some random patch of wild flowers and my camera didn't really capture the depth of their color. They seemed to jump out of the landscape in vivid technicolor. The day was filled with sight and sensation wonders.