walking on water

a swim in the ocean is cleansing

a walk on the beach is  hypnotizing  

a freezing cold spring day means all of the above are off the cards....    or does it? 

*****

upon arriving in california i detested the idea of beach piers. 

they seemed useless, touristy & tacky.. 

seriously, everytime i got to a new beach i would automatically head in the opposite direction of the pier & only ever took photos of them so that i could later look back & remember what beach the photo was from..  

but...! when embarking on this trip i set myself goals (dag..),

 2 of which i will share....  

1. LEARN! learn about myself, others & places. 

2.. OPEN UP!!  to situations, opportunities & everything the world has to offer. 

  

it was a sunny late afternoon in pismo beach that these 2 lessons & the old tacky beach pier collided.

******

the last day on heavenly highway 1 was a sad one. i really, really didn't want it to end.  the thought of saying goodbye to the horizon & the freedom felt of having it by your side at every moment was petrifying.. the winding road had given me freedom & peace that i had never before felt & i was addicted.  

on this day i smiled myself stupid, i took more photos & videos than a chinese tourist could do in a lifetime, i breathed in more fresh air than my body could handle & i tried with all my might to lock this feeling in my body & memory as best as i could. 

as the one lane became two & the green hills became scattered in houses i entered a town called pismo beach.  after taking a wrong exit & ending up on the LEFT hand side of the road being rudely honked at by a monster truck, i hit "main st".  (i was NOT exaggerating when i said every town over here has one!)..

this main st was particularly small, 3 ice cream shops, multiple fish & chip shops, 4 tattoo parlors (4????) & a few pubs -shit, why did i book here?!?!?!?! 

sensibly avoiding my depression of no more heavenly highway 1 & being in a tattoo obsessed town, i checked into my hotel.  spa on the balcony, complementary bottle of champas, free brekkie (first one!!!) & ocean front views (in a 'non-view room'). 

the sun was slowly setting & this was my only afternoon left on the coast -the beach was calling.  with only a camera in my hand (left the champas behind..)  i took to the pavement that ran the length of the beach.        sun, sand, horizon, .....pier.

a pier usually means "main st" starts here!! so knowing i didn't have much time, this day i headed in its' direction.  

as i wasn't interested in main st's plethora of ice cream & tattoo options, i took to the pier. 

stepping onto to the ancient wooden slats i looked down with a sense of sadness...  this could possibly be the last californian pier i ever step on in my life... perfectly, this particular pier had no restaurants, no fancy lighting, no hotel, nothing.  just wooden poles coming up out of the ocean to a wooden deck.   

walking along, as i saw the waves crash below through the tiny gaps in between the planks, i started to think.... could it be that piers were invented specifically for times like this? the air was cold, the sand was biting & the water was numbing -so how does one enjoy the beach?  how do you get amongst the waves? how do you really feel that hypnotic feeling of being on the edge of the earth???   

...you build a wooden deck that takes you off the biting sand, out past the freezing shore break & into the middle of the ocean, to a place that lets you escape. a place that makes you feel 

like your walking on water. 

it all clicked.  

piers = genious.

pismo beach = place for learning lessons & opening up. 

look close --- one surfer + one sea otter floating on his back

the closest i have ever been to a sea otter - they are so cute!  imagine surfing or swimming with one on a regular basis?!?! there were a few of them around & the surfers just chilled with them as if it were no big deal.

 

AMERICA  F@#K YEAH!!!!!  .....exactly what i was thinking.