************ REMINISCING ***********

Someone posted a beautiful picture of a beach in California a while back and it's been haunting me ever since, but in a good way.

Every time I see a beach front picture I tend to digress back in time, remembering what it was like growing up in California where beaches are abundant. It's a wonderful thing.

As far back as I can remember we all loved going to the beach. My sister was 5 yrs. older then me and as soon as she was old enough to drive, we spent every living spare moment at the beach and every summer, all summer long. We lived just off of the famous 101Hwy. and about 15 min. from Redondo beach. My sister of course always had a girlfriend of hers to take with us but since she was so much older then me there was no need for parental supervision --SWEEEET !!

At home she was 90% big sister bitch , but at the beach she was always great. She did her thing and I did mine, which in the beginning mine was looking for sea shells and finding an occasional star fish. Until I got a little older and I got to pick out my favorite bathing suit. A one piece LOL strapless, wow I thought I was it. All thos yrs at the beach I never learned to swim.

Calif. beaches can be treacherous. They have a under - toe . That is when one wave go's out while another is coming in and if your in the right place when they break it can knock your legs out from under you and pull you under so I never went very far out.

One of lifes most scary and most embarrasing moments happened to me at that beach. My sister and her best friend decided to help me have some fun. So they took me out beyond my safe zone where the water was dangerously deep . With one on each side of me they held me up by the upper part of my arms . The water was already up to their arm pits and when the big waves would come they'ed stand their ground,hold their breath and hold me up over thier heads so that I wouldn't swallow a bunch of water. O.K. it was fun-- Until they dropped me. I nearly downed that day. When I hit the bottom I tried to dig my hands in the sand. I coudn't yell for holding my breath. It felt like the water was pulling me out. I could hear my sister screaming my name and crying and yelling at her friend to find me. I couldn't see them thru the dark green water so I figured they'ed never find me and I was on my way out to sea, I couldn't hold my breath much longer anyway. At that moment I felt a hand grab my arm and my sister screaming "I 've got her", then another grabbing my other arm. They were pulling me to safety and I was fighting them every step of the way. They just couldn't understand why. They thought I had completely lost my mind from fright. They were screaming at me so loud they couldn't hear me trying to say wait don't go to the sallow end yet. My beautiful strapless swim suit was down around my ankles. I had managed somehow to get it waist high before they yanked me completely up and out, but Oh lord they exposed my poor little (barely training bra size ) boobs to the opened air. I thought I would die. But it was O.K. I learned how much she loved me, hmmm or was she just afraid of getting grounded?

One of the best times I ever had at that beach was discovering Grunion hunting. People always talked about it but we had never tryed it . For those of you who don't know what they are. They are little fish, very thin and about 5 to6 or 7 inches long. They come in and go out with the waves to spawn very, very quickly, during high tides at the full and new moons. Yes they do this after dark. One day my father came home and said it's Grunion season, let's go and see what it's like. People where everywhere. I think there was more people there at night then in the day. Everyone brings buckets to put the Grunion in and you hunt by the light of the moon. And somehow everyone seemed so much more friendly. There were camp fires going and a lot of comradary.The waves rush in and you run out and try to grab the little buggers before they get away. Some people had buckets full. We caught quite a few, but we gave ours back to the sea. It was lots of fun, but it was more fun watching the other people.

I hear California has changed a lot over the years. I left 30 yrs ago and never went back. I loved growing up in California. I always liked going on trips and vacations, but I never wanted to live anywhere else. We stayed with a beautiful dark golden tan, that no modern day tanning bed has yet to match and I never really minded that the tan just made the scare on my face show up more, Oh , I didn't tell you I was attacked by a dog (Chow) when I was 4 yrs. old. I made the Detroit news papers, I was a celeb. ha ha, but that's another story.

My dream was to have a home over looking the ocean, but life takes strange turns and I never got to do that. Instead I moved further and further away from the ocean and finally ended up here in the south.

Why ? you say, Well I caught that dreaded disease -- I fell in love. lol

Ah, NOSTALGIA , it can make one happy and sad all at the same time.


( I just couldn't resest this Pilican )