I can count on one hand the times in my life when I have been truly happy, and the smile on my face was honest, heartfelt and soulful. Two of these times came when I was in San Diego, California.
In 2005 the wife and I made our first excursion to California. We stayed at Bahia Hotel in a bungalow near Mission Beach. My wife said that I changed the moment the plane set down. I was lively, active, motivated and giddy. I felt alive.
Five years later, I managed to get back. The first couple of days I was a little down. We stayed in the Gaslamp district of San Diego, and it was full of tourists, boutique shops and ridiculous bars that blared a mix of music by Lady Gaga and some Japanese pop band I’d never heard of. I wasn’t feeling San Diego the way I felt it before. I panicked. What if it had changed? What if I had changed? Was the dream over? Was my “heaven” gone? What now?
But it was still California, and it was 75 degrees outside (as opposed to 104F in Dallas). So we went to Balboa Park, visited some museums, lay out on the grass and watched the planes fly over—it was peaceful at least, but still not the same. We even took a boat tour of the bay, which at least got me out into the water. We saw the naval base: the USS Ronald Reagan and some other cool ships, but still not what I was wanting. I’d just about given up hope.
Finally, on our last day, we rented a car and drove out to Mission Beach. First we stopped by Sunset Cliffs and waited for the sun to come up (it was a chilly 60 degrees). Sitting alone out on the cliffs, I began to remember: the sound of the ocean, the smells, and the solitude. We sat out there for over an hour, watched crabs run around on the rocks, and just relaxed. A few other people showed up but they kept their distance, looking for their solitude as well I suppose.
Then came the best part of the trip: Mission Beach. Right away I could tell that the vibe was different. There were tons of college kids and pseudo-hippies walking along the sidewalks. There were more surf shops, coffee shops, and hipster pizza joints. We found a parking spot right near the boardwalk (next to a Dallas Cowboys decorated pickup truck of all things!) and walked into one of the beach shops. I got a coffee, and a towel with the California flag on it, and headed down to he water. My wife, seeing how happy I was becoming, ran back up to the surfer shop and bought me a boogie board! There’s really no way to explain to you how that made me feel.
Shirt off! Pants off! Into the water! With 75-degree temps, the water was pretty damn cold, but after a few minutes of fighting the waves, I warmed up just fine. My attempts at boogie boarding were mostly failures. I think I managed to ride one wave successfully; but I was the happiest person out there. One time I got dumped upside down, and had to remind myself not to laugh yet, as my head was still under water.
The only scary part was when I got caught in a cross current that tried to take me out to sea. I was swimming in waist-deep water when I felt the sand beneath me dissolve. After some more wave attempts with my boogie board, I found that I could no longer touch bottom! Mild panic. It’s not so much the dangers of deep water (I’m not a great swimmer), but the dangers of what else suddenly had more room to move around beneath me! I saw a lifeguard motioning to me, so I relaxed. He was telling everyone about the current and ushering us south to the shallow water. At least I knew with him there I wasn’t going to drown. So I paddled on my board a little and caught an in-wave, then stood up before it could pull me back out. If you get caught in a cross current, stand up. Don’t try and swim against it! You won’t win. It’ll still try and knock you down, but if you’re on your feet you can resist it better. Then walk until you get back into shallow waters.
I stayed in the water for two hours, my lungs ready to burst and my legs turned to jelly. I knew we still had to catch a plane, so I forced myself out. Even as I write this, a few weeks later, I know where I truly belong. I know what makes me happy. Only time will tell if I succeed in getting back to California—next time to stay for good.
I’m splitting up my Babes of Sci Fi series, because I’m crappy about posting to my blog these days. So here’s a piece from a post I was going to title Something Old, Something New. Obviously, this is the latter: Zoe Saldana!
I realized today that I need more posts about music. I have so many interests, it’s hard to squeeze them all in here. Well one of my favorite albums was given to me by a friend, and I went completely crazy over it. It’s Darondo’s 
