Tag Archives: Laguna Beach

The Final Project

Posted on by
48

It’s time to turn in my final project for photography class. I’ve been taking photos of sea glass that I’ve shared along the way HERE and HERE.

Sea glass has both Meaning and Memory for me (FYI, that’s the theme of this semester’s final project.) My memories are from summers at the beach which were my favorite days of being a mom. As for meaning, one is that change always happens. For example, the purpose and original form of bottles change through time. Bottles turn into beautiful glass pieces tumbled in the sea. We also change — but it doesn’t mean that we no longer have purpose or beauty.

I took photos for the past few months of sea glass. Outside by the pool at different times of day. On glass tables by the pool, inside in jars, glasses and on glass with light coming from different directions.

For this project, I looked through photo albums and found pictures from our summers at the beach. Every year, I took photos of our kids and used them for Christmas cards. I scanned old photos and improved them using Adobe Camera Raw. The quality of the old photos taken with film are fuzzy compared to the new photos using a DSLR. But they have memory and meaning as well.

Here are the photos for my final project:

The Palm Springs gang on a beach day.

In the original photo, the hand looked like it was boiled bright red. A little Adobe Camera Raw and it’s more natural looking.

One of my favorite sea glass photos.

All that’s needed for entertainment is sand, the ocean and big stick.

Two more sea glass photos I took by our pool in the morning light.

I never heard the end of making my kids sit on this rocky outcropping. They asked me, “Why did you make us sit on an ashtray?” I didn’t know that this was a favorite place to smoke for locals. It was covered with cigarette butts!

Our daughter with a fist full of sea glass.

College age kids.

The final sea glass photo taken on a glass table with a light underneath.

I hope you enjoyed my final project.

Which photos do you like and why?

Days of Summers Past

Posted on by
29

After several hours, I finally got my new scanner to talk to my laptop. This was the first photo I scanned. It’s of me and my kids, one of my best friends and her two girls, plus assorted kids we brought along with us for a beach day.

I’ve spent this week going through my half dozen photo boxes, looking for pictures to include in my photography project of Memory and Meaning: Sea Glass.

If you missed my description about Sea Glass and my project, I wrote about it HERE.

Going through all my old photos from summers’ past, brought back so many memories of a life I’ve left behind. Carefree days of summer, hanging out with my kids. Every year, I’d take photos of them together for our Christmas cards. It always took more than a few days to get something good. Sometimes they’d cooperate, other times they enjoyed torturing me with their silly faces or looking away.

Here are a few photos from my beach memories. I haven’t decided yet what gets included in my Memory and Meaning Sea Glass project. All of the photos spark memories and have meaning to me.

Angus at the cottage. He wasn’t allowed inside, but at our home he was. It was a difficult transitiion for him, but he loved being near us.

This is the cove where we collected sea glass.

Our daughter with a handful of sea glass. Her preferred method was diving under waves for it.

Boogie boarding was always a hit.

When they were young.

Then I had one teen and a preteen.

College-aged kids. Where did the time go? Now they’re grown ups!

The bootlegger’s house was second from the end. Because of the bootlegger and a shipment of his booze that went overboard from his boat, this cove is filled with sea glass.

A handful of sea glass in unusual colors.

Happy Friday!

What are your plans for the weekend?

First Photography Class

Posted on by
34

I took this photo a couple days ago after my first photography class of Fall 2025.

So how did it go?

I was introduced to the five other students in the group. The class was by zoom. Then after we gave a short bio of ourselves, the professor shared our first photo assignment. We each got a turn to talk about our photo.

I was blown away by the talent in our group! Like the professor told me, everyone is internally motivated to improve. “We are all on the same learning curve, just at different points along the way.” Some are way, way ahead. It’s exciting to see their work.

The main problem I had was the time. 7 to 9 p.m. I’m not sure if it’s me getting older, recovering from surgery, or getting up early, but I fizzle out around dinner time. That day was busy with an earlier zoom call meeting from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and all my other daytime duties.

I managed to stay awake. I enjoyed seeing other photographers’ work plus learned about the semester project.

Memory and Meaning.

That’s the theme. I’m been noodling on it since Thursday. The professor gave all sorts of examples of what we can do. He said to reflect on the questions, “Why did I take this photo?” and “Why did I keep it?”

We can use photos from the public domain, photos we’ve taken before, new photos, or photos we’ve restored….those are just a few of the examples he gave. I’m thinking of taking photos with sea glass. I have tons of it from the days hanging out at the beach with my kids from when they were infants to before they left for college. My sea glass gives me memories of my favorite days at the beach with them.

We used to rent a cottage a few blocks from a cove in Laguna that was home to a bootlegger during Prohibition. The story the locals tell is that one stormy night, his ship came in to the dock by his house, and the liquor all went overboard. That cove is an amazing place to find sea glass. My daughter had a special eye for it and would spend hours wading in the waves, diving down to pick up pieces of royal blue, lavender, yellow, white, green, brown and turquoise sea glass. Some of the colors are unusual because of how old the bottles were.

I found a lilac piece of sea glass for the first time in my life, while praying during my DIL’s cancer surgery. I thought it was a good omen.

Then in my Palm Springs home, I refinished our wood block kitchen counters. I practiced on a nightstand in the garage that belonged to my husband’s grandmother. I didn’t know turpentine would self combust. I smelled smoke and was shocked to see the rags I tossed on the nightstand were on fire. Thankfully, the house did not catch on fire, although there was soot going up one wall.

I used sea glass and shells to fix the nightstand:

Although it smelled like an ashtray for a few years, I thought this was a creative fix for the smoldering hole on the nightstand.

I have sea glass displayed throughout the house and I found a banker’s box full of it. My daughter used to decorate picture frames with it. We had a grand idea of beautifying a glass table with sea glass. We never quite figured out how we would do it. Then she grew up and moved away before we got around to it.

I’m thinking about different ways I can photograph sea glass. I have tons to set outside for morning light, use water, different settings, frame beach photos. The choices are endless.

What are your thoughts for sea glass being an element in my Memory and Meaning photography project?

Happy Birthday!

Posted on by
32

Today is my son’s birthday. This is a photo from a summer in Laguna Beach of my son, daughter and Angus, the best dog ever. We adopted Angus from Guide Dogs of the Desert after his hips were found to be “FAIR” and not “EXCELLENT.”

In honor of my son’s and Angus’s March 26 birthdays (RIP Angus), I’m posting a story I wrote that was published in the Los Angeles Times Kids’ Reading Room. It’s based on my son’s birthday in the second grade when he wanted to invite 50 kids to his birthday party.

A Birthday for the Dogs

“MOM, I’m inviting 50 kids to my party.”

“What, Robert?” Mom said. “That’s too many. Do you know 50 kids?”

I sat in the back seat while Mom drove home after school. My eighth birthday was in two weeks. 

“There’s my class, plus Cub Scouts, and playgroup.”

“I can’t afford to take 50 kids skating or bowling. And I don’t want 50 kids in my house. What about the city pool? It’s heated, open year-round, and it’s only 50¢ a kid,” Mom said.

“A swim party, that’s cool!” I said.

“I’ll say yes to the party, but no to presents. Fifty presents is too much for one 8-year-old. It’s decadent.”

“What’s decadent?” I asked. Mom used words I didn’t know.

“Self-indulgent, corrupt.”

I sat silently and thought I’d be sad with no presents. Then I remembered Angus. Mom got him for me as an early birthday present. We were on a waiting list for two years with Guide Dogs of the Desert. He was being trained as a companion dog for people who couldn’t see. We got him because he had poor hips and couldn’t be a working dog. Angus was big, yellow, and I loved him. We shared the same birthday.

“I have a great idea!”

“What?” Mom asked, glancing at me in her rearview mirror.

“I’ll ask for money for Guide Dogs of the Desert.”

“Ah?” Mom made a weird swalloing noise.

“It’s Angus’s birthday, too.”

In the rearview mirror I watched Mom dab at the corner of her eyes with a tissue, and nod her head in agreement.

Two weeks later, I had a great birthday. Fifty kids came with bathing suits, towels and money. Instead of opening presents after cake, we counted dollars they had stuffed into a large jar decorated with photos of Angus. 

Together, we raised more than $1,600 for Guide Dogs. Mom called me a “philanthropist” – whatever that is.

What special birthday memories do you have?

Happy Birthday Dear Daughter!

Posted on by
26
daughter
My beautiful daughter at the beach.

Happy birthday to my sweet, funny and witty daughter.

Kat in a dry suit at the beach with big brother Robert.

I love this photo of my daughter because it shows her personality. I used to write about her all the time. But she told me to stop it. She said “I’m not your content.”

We used to spend summers in Laguna Beach to escape the high heat of Palm Springs (most days are over 110 degrees and some days reach 125 degrees!) Those are my favorite memories. My husband would be stuck working at home, except for weekends, while I took the kids to play in the waves and sand during the week. My daughter was a little princess and hated to wear a wet suit as a toddler. She’d strip naked as soon as her suit got wet. I brought a bag full of swim suits to keep her comfortable and clothed.

Now she’s a sufficient adult, working and making ends meet. She’s interested in comedy and has taken classes in writing comedy as well as stand up. She’s courageous enough to have performed live on stage in San Francisco. I can’t say how proud I am of her to do that! Talk about taking a leap and getting out of your comfort zone. But maybe it is in her comfort zone?

There’s a sad side to her birthday for her and many of us. A friend she had in college shared the same birthday. I wrote about Lauren McCluskey HERE. I’m now making an annual donation to the foundation her mother set up in Lauren’s memory ever since I found out Lauren and my daughter shared birthdays. Lauren was shot and murdered while talking to her mother on the phone, walking home from night class. There’s a lot more to the story that is really hard.

I am so grateful to have my daughter in my life. I can’t imagine the pain that Lauren’s mother goes through on her birthday and every day.

Here’s a link to the Lauren McCluskey Foundation if you care to make a donation on her birthday. https://laurenmccluskey.org/

Virtual campaign in honor of Lauren’s Birthday scheduled for February 12th, 2025

Happy birthday to my wonderful daughter! I love her so much.

What are some of your favorite memories of your childhood or when your children were young?

Backyard beach adventure

Posted on by
35

My daughter and me in the backyard of a house we used to rent in Laguna Beach.

We rented a house in Laguna Beach to escape the high temperatures of Palm Springs in the summertime. We rented with another family from Memorial weekend to Labor day, splitting the summer in half.

The family who owned the house were school teachers. They took off to Alaska each summer as rangers.

I was worried the first time I visited the house. The backyard dropped off into a canyon. There were railroad ties between the lawn and a cliff. Having a two-year old son, I was worried the yard was too dangerous.

The owner laughed and said she raised three boys in that house and there was never an issue.

Me and my son at the beach in Laguna.

I’ll never forget the first time we rented the house. We told our son we were going to the beach. He grabbed a shovel and bucket and said, “Let’s go!” He was headed to the edge of the lawn and railroad ties, where there was a view of the ocean.

“No!” I stopped him. “We have to drive to the beach.”

Later that summer, I couldn’t find the T.V. remote control. My husband worked in Palm Springs during the weekdays and I was alone with my son except for weekends.

I was six months pregnant with my daughter at the time.

“It’s down there!” my son said pointing to the cliff dropping to the canyon.

“What?” I asked.

“I threw it down there,” my son said, pointing.

I strapped him in his stroller before I ventured into the canyon. I made my way over the railroad ties, clinging onto shrubs for dear life, as I scrambled along the steep incline. Needless to say I was a wreck by the time I made it back up the steep cliff into the backyard. No, I didn’t find the remote.

My son seemed fascinated watching me from the safety of his stroller.

I pushed my son in his stroller into the house, unbuckled him and collapsed on the sofa.

My son joined me on the sofa and fetched the remote control from under a throw pillow.

“Here it is!” he said.

My kids at the Laguna Beach house, sitting on the hearth wearing sofa arm protectors as hats.

To this day, I have no clue why my son told me he threw the remote control into the canyon. I’m sure he was entertained watching me as I held onto branches and bushes to not tumble down the cliff.

What unexpected things have your kids done to make your life exciting?

Hotel vs. Airbnb

Posted on by
36

We’ve vacationed in the summer for six years in this cottage a few blocks from the beach near Santa Barbara. I can’t wait for our time there this summer!

When we get away, we like to stay in VRBOs or Airbnbs — most of the time.

Since the time my son was one year’s old, we rented a house in Laguna Beach in the summer with another family from our hot desert. We rented directly from the homeowners (pre-VRBO era). The owners were school teachers who left for Alaska once the school year was over. We’d split the summer in two and overlap with the other family for a fun weekend.

My husband would commute back and forth for long beach weekends, while I’d stay with the kids the entire time. Not a bad deal, but with toddlers I remember I was tired. Still, much better than being in the desert with temperatures 100 to 126 degrees!

At Christmas the past two years, we’ve rented a house for a week — big enough for our Christmas Crew that varies from 10 to 14 people. We love being together under one roof and cooking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts.

For the past 10 years, since my son was in college at UC Santa Barbara, we traded Laguna Beach for Santa Barbara. We stay at least a week and sometimes almost a month. My husband works remotely, so he sets up shop there.

When don’t we stay in Airbnb’s or VRBOs?

When we are going away for a quick trip, like a weekend, we stay in hotels. First of all, there are usually cleaning deposits and other charges that make a VRBO expensive for two nights. If you’re staying for a week or more, it can be more affordable to rent a house or condo and cook most meals.

When our kids were swimmers, we’d stay in hotels. We’d have to get to the pool early for warm-ups, get back to the hotel so they could rest between prelims and finals. The hectic schedule made the hotel much easier. I didn’t have to prepare meals, grocery shop or do dishes. I could order from the hotel restaurant or drive for takeout.

What’s your preference? Hotels or VRBOs and WHY?