The condo development at the beach below our Vrbo has grown this year.
The past few years, we’ve been fascinated with a driftwood art installation at the beach. We first noticed it four or five years ago. I wrote about condos at the beach last summer HERE.
This summer, the person who is working on what we call the “beach condos” has added more people, creatures and signs. We’ve never seen anyone working on it. But it keeps growing and getting more interesting. I’d love to know who is creating this. I am picturing an aging hippie with long white hair.
Here are random photos I took yesterday morning:
One of the many driftwood people at the beach.Looks like he’s doing a cartwheelSummerland Semi Social Club signDriftwood dogs.Another character at the beach.“Please remove your shoes” makes me laugh.The other sign reads” Please leave it as you found it.”These guys look like they’re dancing.The artist is obviously having fun.Ahoy! A pirate.
Video overview of the beach condos.
Have you encountered anything like this at the beach or anywhere else? Which person or creature is your favorite?
Things are going swimmingly except for a heat wave. It’s cooler than back home in our Arizona desert, but it’s too hot to hike in the afternoon.
We visited the same week of July in the summer of 2020. In the afternoons, when my husband was done working, we would hike on trails that wind through the ski slopes.
This year, we’re doing a morning walk to Main Street along a tree-lined path with a bubbling creek. We did the same walk in the 2020 mornings, too. This year, the morning walk is the highlight of my day, because the afternoons are too hot for the mountain hikes.
Poison Creek along the walk to Main Street.
Instead of sitting inside reading or watching TV, we’re hitting the pool to cool off.
Yesterday afternoon, the pool was filled with several groups of families and kids. I found a spot along one wall where I could swim. I watched two sisters in the deep end throwing a ring and diving after it. The older sister, a teen, got out when she saw me attempting to swim laps.
“Who am I going to play with?” little sister complained.
“That woman is swimming,” the teen explained.
I thought, “I’m swimming on one edge of the pool. They have most of the deep end to continue tossing the ring and diving.”
My husband decided to sit on the steps. I plowed on determined to get my exercise.
“Little sister” would do a backward somersault right in front of me every time I reached the deep end to turn. I had to swim around her. Next, a nine-year-old boy named Oscar would cut in front of me across the pool swimming as fast as he could. It seemed to be a game for him to push off across the pool and barely miss me.
“Why won’t you join me and swim?” I asked my husband.
“I don’t have the patience you have,” he explained. “I’d end up saying something and look like an asshole to the kids.”
I finally gave up after about 20 laps of dodging little sister and Oscar. We headed to the jacuzzi. Strangely, as soon as we got out of the pool, the kids did too. I guess I was their entertainment. They weren’t having much fun without harassing the middle-aged woman who was trying to swim laps.
I think if I was “little sister’s” mom, I would have asked her to swim and play away from the lap swimmer. The mom and dad were on chaise lounges relaxing. They didn’t say a word.
What would you have done if you were the parent? If you were trying to swim laps, would you have continued like me or not try like my husband and let the kids play?
I’ve been waiting to see this Century plant in bloom. This photo was taken two weeks ago.Still waiting for the blossoms….Look how much it grew. This photo was taken a couple days ago. My husband said he thought he could watch it growing taller right before his eyes.
I’m enjoying the blossoms on cactus, but they are very short lived. One day there are furious blooms and the next day, they’ve expired.
I’ve been keeping my eye on the neighbor’s Century plant and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss the flowers.
Look at the gorgeous blossoms on this hedgehog cactus. Tomorrow they’ll be gone.
You can imagine how sad we felt when we went on our morning walk today and saw this:
We will never get to enjoy the blooms. We felt like we lost a friend. It also reminded me of our saguaros we lost.
It takes a trip out of state to an entirely different environment for me to appreciate the beauty of my desert. I get used to it and lose some appreciation, but a trip away wakes up my senses. As I walked this morning around our neighborhood I was struck by the views of cactus, mountains and shrubbery. I like it out here. I’d like to see more some wildlife, too.
The mountain to the north. I think it’s called Black Mountain. I’m working on learning the names.Teddy bear cholla with the sun peaking through clouds.Clouds. We should have an amazing sunset tonight.A neighbor’s saguaro. We have lots of saguaro but only one has an arm. One of the things I love best about our neighborhood is all the open natural space.
What are some of the things you like best about where you live?
The nature preserve across the street with 130 miles of trails
Here are a few photos from my morning walks this week. The weather is so much cooler. We went from too hot to walk to 48 degrees in the mornings. Unfortunately, my pool is too cold to use now. I was enjoying it until a week ago. I asked the pool man how to turn on the heater. He looked and couldn’t find a pool heater. Oh well. We didn’t heat our pool in Palm Springs, either, but we lived one mile from the city pool. I need to get in the car and drive 30 minutes to a pool to swim laps here. I’m spoiled and it’s tough to get motivated to drive that far to swim.
This is the stalk of a yucca in a neighbor’s yard. It once had gorgeous flowers Did you know that yuccas are in the lily family?I thought this was another yucca. But after some research I think it’s called a sotol.This is a skeleton of a saguaro cactus. Indians used them for building structures and tools.A silhouette of a saguaro cactus in the morning sun.
I mentioned that I was interviewed for a survey of American Families recently by writer Jennifer Graham. Here are links to two articles where I have a quote. Click on the headlines to read:
Only about 1 in 10 Democrats worry about cultural issues, but there’s widespread concern about the costs of having a family By Jennifer Graham@grahamtoday Oct 12, 2021, 12:01am MDT
Trust in institutions has been declining for years, but Americans generally give them high marks for their response to COVID-19 By Jennifer Graham@grahamtoday Oct 12, 2021, 12:01am MDT
What do you think are some of the biggest problems facing families in 2021?
I answered: the cost to raise a family, too much social media and screen times leading to depression and anxiety — and political divides within families.
View from my morning walk. We had clouds, then thunder, lightening and rain yesterday.
I make myself a list each day of what I need to get done. It includes my writing tasks, bill paying, laundry — whatever is on my plate. Why do I list things like grocery shopping and laundry? Because it’s satisfying to cross items off the list with my red pen. I feel like I accomplished something when I get through my list with every single thing completed.
But last week and this week one glaring item stares back at me without a single red line through it. I must be avoiding it. Or to be honest, I feel stuck. So, I put it on the next day’s list where it then floats over to the following day.
I’m not exactly procrastinating. It’s more like I don’t know what to do. I decided to try NaNoWriMo this year.
What is NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.
I’ve heard about it for years. I have writer friends who have done it. I never have before. I’m working on NaNo Prep 101 so I can start November off and running and write 50,000 words. On my to do list is NaNo Prep. Each day. But I haven’t gotten through the task at hand.
I’m going to try a new strategy. I’m moving NaNo prep to the top of my list. Where I can’t avoid it. Also, I think if I tackle it earlier in the day, tiredness and a lack of motivation won’t take over. Maybe I’ll get it done when my energy is better. It takes energy to make decisions about what to write about and to develop characters. I have an inkling of what I want, but then I second guess myself and chicken out.
Have you ever tried NaNoWriMo? If so, how did it go? Have you written a novel? What did you find to be the easiest and hardest parts?
Two of the six javelina we spotted in our neighborhood Sunday morning.
Last week we were fortunate to see our bobcat in action inches from our bedroom window. I posted photos and video HERE.
Sunday on our morning walk, I caught sight of a squadron of javelina. Yes, that’s what a group of them are called. These were six youngsters I believe, because they were smaller than ones I’ve seen in our yard. Also, they didn’t have tusks. I thought they were related to pigs, but a docent at the nearby preserve told us they are in the guinea pig family.
Javelina enjoying freshly ripened prickly pear.
There’s never a dull moment in the desert of Arizona. I’m enjoying the surprises!
I’ll admit I got a little nervous when this guy stopped and faced me.
What are some of the creatures you have in your neck of the woods?
