northbound

 

bet you can't guess what that is

[persevere with this post and i shall offer enlightenment]

+++

the journey northward from Goleta begins well

as

the very nice manager at the rental agency

offers me a ragtop Mustang as an upgrade on

my pre-booked econo-box.

i could have been driving this

sadly the nice man then also noticed there would be a drop off at SFO and with many apologies withdrew the offer as the vehicle needed to come back to Goleta.

ah well.

 just for a moment it was a fabulous prospect.

so singing Mustang Sally

i head north in a Nissan.

much driving and 

stopping to investigate leaves/stones/fabulous views 

later

i am ensconced in my room at Ragged Point

listening to the ocean far below

night falls and it occurs to me

that there might be stars

i venture out and for the first time in many years [in America] 

it is dark enough and there is no haze or cloud or fog

in fact so velvety black is the sky that the twinkling celestial bodies seem

 a myriad shades from silver to gold to red

from my balcony i espy the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius 

dancing cheek to cheek on the far southern edge of the Pacific

the Bear must be somewhere above but i can't quite make him out past the roof overhang

far below the waves keep tumbling and plashing on the rocks

 

earlier

an hour or so before sunset

i stood on the pier at San Simeon

watching the pelicans soar up high and then plummet from the sky like kamikaze pilots , beaks pointing straight down on hapless fish

only to be bombarded in turn by marauding gulls as they re-emerged from the depths

quite literally a feeding frenzy.

in the midst of this avian/piscine mayhem

  a hatful of seals frolicked about

forming infinity symbols

curving sleekly through the water

like a troupe of cheerful labradors

perfecting a synchronised swimming routine

[but not needing nose-clips]

in the distance

squeakyclean white egrets balanced on the floating kelp beds - bandylegged bleached surfers looking for waves

looking down on  drifting kelp

and that first image? seaweed gathered at Moonstone Beach

wrapped in silk

warming in the bathroom sink

it's what i do.