Waking Up from Routine's Fog

A wet winter has brought out lots of slimy creatures including this banana slug along the trail in Veteran's Park. The banana slug is UC Santa Cruz's mascot, yet I had never spied one on Monterey soil. It was slithering along and as I bent to get a closer look, his antennas disappeared. No eyes but somehow fully aware.

One of my favorite things to do in Santa Cruz is to go up to the cliffs overlooking the beach where the surfers catch the big waves. This was a great day because so much sea kelp had washed ashore, creating this amazing impromptu geometry.

The day of the Chilean earthquake, we made our way to the Marina dunes to check out the waves. On the way up, we wearily took note of this sign.

But, the water refused to get angry that day, smooth as a glass lake prism. On beautiful California days, it is impossible to imagine that the water would ever betray. People in scuba gear scavenged the waves with nets looking for sea glass and pottery artifacts stirred up by tsunami currents. The sun started to go down. A fine mist came off the water and promised that another day would come.