Quirkiness is a fabulous thing. I am a devotee of quirkiness. Without quirks (let alone quarks) the world would be a very dull place. Quirk is also a rather good word for Scrabble, getting rid of that pesky 'q'.
Today, on a trip to Santa Cruz, I went to Natural Bridges beach. It was windy. I had my face exfoliated by the sand, but consoled myself with the thought that some people pay good money in beauticians' parlours for this sort of thing, and without the benefit of being able to watch the Pacific rollers crashing in front of them.
I walked to some rock pools and saw some funny ring doughnut shaped corally stuff (you can tell I'm not a marine biologist) and sat on the beach and ate some of the best tasting cherries, freshly picked off my friend's tree.
I have noticed, in my exploration of beaches, that the quality of sand varies. For example, at Natural Bridges, the sand was a good temperature, pleasantly golden, but too soft. I sank in up to my ankles, which made walking tricky, and made me look as if I was inebriated. At the beach near 'Downtown', the sand was too hot to walk on, which is annoying when you have gone specially to walk on it in bare feet, but had a good consistency. It just squeezed between my toes, enabling me to treasure the experience without looking as if I am about to fall flat on my face. The colour was very nice too. I have decided that I am going to be the Egon Ronay* of sand.
After a bit I decided to get back on the bus to 'Downtown' (I still can't read or write that word without singing it in my head).
I walked down the exceedingly long pier, taking time to lean over the railing and watch the seals swim in the clear, turquoise water, and found a cafe right at the very end which looked like it had been waiting for me. There was a great view of Monterey Bay, and I experience a merging of cultures as I watched surfers riding the waves, looked at palm trees around the horizon, while listening to The Beatles and eating fish and chips.
It worked.
On the walk back, I felt a bit Zen. I already thought I had achieved total relaxation, but had achieved a state of mind and body where my knees were just swinging my feet out in front of me with absolutely no bother, and I felt like I was floating along.
Mid-float, I stopped to read the information board at the lifeguard station. It had titles printed in some sections, and chalked information filling in the boxes.
Temperature: 26 degrees
Climate: sunny (I thought they might as well have that bit printed on)
and so it went.
At the bottom was the printed title 'Other comments' which I assumed was going to tell me about algae, or sharks or other helpful advice. Instead was written,
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” from Dr. Seuss.
I liked that. I will make sure I check the board next time I visit. That sort of quirkiness works well, because people will check the board regularly, and when there is important information, will see it.
Release your inner quirkiness!
*(in)famous restaurant critic
Today, on a trip to Santa Cruz, I went to Natural Bridges beach. It was windy. I had my face exfoliated by the sand, but consoled myself with the thought that some people pay good money in beauticians' parlours for this sort of thing, and without the benefit of being able to watch the Pacific rollers crashing in front of them.
I walked to some rock pools and saw some funny ring doughnut shaped corally stuff (you can tell I'm not a marine biologist) and sat on the beach and ate some of the best tasting cherries, freshly picked off my friend's tree.
I have noticed, in my exploration of beaches, that the quality of sand varies. For example, at Natural Bridges, the sand was a good temperature, pleasantly golden, but too soft. I sank in up to my ankles, which made walking tricky, and made me look as if I was inebriated. At the beach near 'Downtown', the sand was too hot to walk on, which is annoying when you have gone specially to walk on it in bare feet, but had a good consistency. It just squeezed between my toes, enabling me to treasure the experience without looking as if I am about to fall flat on my face. The colour was very nice too. I have decided that I am going to be the Egon Ronay* of sand.
After a bit I decided to get back on the bus to 'Downtown' (I still can't read or write that word without singing it in my head).
I walked down the exceedingly long pier, taking time to lean over the railing and watch the seals swim in the clear, turquoise water, and found a cafe right at the very end which looked like it had been waiting for me. There was a great view of Monterey Bay, and I experience a merging of cultures as I watched surfers riding the waves, looked at palm trees around the horizon, while listening to The Beatles and eating fish and chips.
It worked.
On the walk back, I felt a bit Zen. I already thought I had achieved total relaxation, but had achieved a state of mind and body where my knees were just swinging my feet out in front of me with absolutely no bother, and I felt like I was floating along.
Mid-float, I stopped to read the information board at the lifeguard station. It had titles printed in some sections, and chalked information filling in the boxes.
Temperature: 26 degrees
Climate: sunny (I thought they might as well have that bit printed on)
and so it went.
At the bottom was the printed title 'Other comments' which I assumed was going to tell me about algae, or sharks or other helpful advice. Instead was written,
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” from Dr. Seuss.
I liked that. I will make sure I check the board next time I visit. That sort of quirkiness works well, because people will check the board regularly, and when there is important information, will see it.
Release your inner quirkiness!
*(in)famous restaurant critic
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