| Have you ever been to Southern California? In the | | | | the real thing. A nearby poster of an underwater |
| winter time? The weather there is absolutely amazing! | | | | scene made a perfect background for a picture of the |
| Except for a few weeks in January, the days are all | | | | mobile. The result fooled a lot of people into thinking |
| sunny, in the 70s, 50% humidity, and cool at night for | | | | those fish were real!By now it was one o'clock and by |
| sleeping. No air conditioning is needed and very little | | | | the advice of a local, I traveled to a restaurant which |
| heat in the winter. One July a few years ago I spent | | | | had in its window two huge vats of gleaming stainless |
| two weeks visiting my brother in Oceanside, California | | | | steel surrounded by shiny clean pipes, valves and all |
| for a summer vacation. My wife, Marianne, decided to | | | | the paraphernalia needed to make beer. My kind of |
| visit her friends in Munich, so we took separate | | | | restaurant. The deli inside made me up a huge |
| vacations - a great idea to recharge the old | | | | sandwich accompanied by a frosted mug of their own |
| batteries.After a wonderful breakfast of buttermilk | | | | brand of beer, a strong, but light ale with a definite |
| pancakes (the real thing, my brother is a great cook), I | | | | hops flavor. Delicious.Retrieving a double set of my |
| borrowed his bicycle, strapped on a backpack | | | | photos from Motophoto, I retraced my steps and |
| containing a good mystery, a cherry yogurt, my | | | | dropped off the extras to the owners. Of course I |
| notebook, a book of poems I wrote and my camera. | | | | refused any payment, thanking them for being so |
| Three miles south led me to the charming town of | | | | generous with their time and making my stay in |
| Carlsbad. I noticed a stained glass store and stopped in | | | | California a pleasant one. A few days later I was |
| to talk to the owner and watch him work on a | | | | approached by a young man whose mother owned |
| beautiful piece of his own design. I took a picture of | | | | the fish store and asked me to take a few pictures of |
| him with his piece over by the window so the morning | | | | himself for use in his acting career. I did so and |
| sun could highlight the rainbow of colors in the glass.On | | | | accepted the cost of the enlargements. I hope he |
| the left a few streets further I saw a dance school | | | | makes it.During the next two weeks I made many |
| letting out. I took a picture of one of the aspiring | | | | friends on my rounds in Carlsbad. One day was spent |
| dancers as she put on her dancing shoes. I introduced | | | | on a nice fourteen mile ride down the coast along the |
| myself to the dance instructor and promised to bring | | | | ocean. The scenery was magnificent! Another day |
| the picture to her later in the afternoon. The subject I | | | | found me riding the coastal train on a trip up the coast |
| chose happened to be the instructor's daughter, so she | | | | to La Jolla. The conductor was nice enough to allow |
| couldn't wait to see the finished picture. A wonderful | | | | me to take my bike on the train. Some other highlights |
| aroma of baking bread caught my nose and I bicycled | | | | included a session with a piano teacher who politely |
| around until I found the source. A small arcade of | | | | listened to my songs, offering some expert advice, and |
| stores contained a bakery which served coffee and | | | | a visit to an artist's shop. The artist, who was in his |
| Danish on a covered patio. This spot became a | | | | nineties, rented a small ramshackle bungalow on the |
| favorite of mine in the next two weeks, enjoying a | | | | main street on the outskirts of town filling the front |
| second breakfast and talking with the regulars. A few | | | | room and porch with his paintings. They were priced |
| were even poets! One of the regulars mentioned that | | | | reasonably, and seemed to be worth every penny. |
| he didn't have any hobbies but he liked to collect poker | | | | One I liked was a painting of a red chicken I swear |
| chips. A few days later I came across an antique | | | | looked casually annoyed. He claimed that one of his |
| store. The proprietor said that on of the antique boxes | | | | paintings, bought by President Kennedy, hung in the |
| he had for sale contained some old poker chips. He | | | | White House. I noticed that he didn't have any food to |
| said I could have them all for two dollars. They made | | | | eat and asked him what he liked. He answered that he |
| the poker chip collector very happy. Of course I had to | | | | sometimes made a big pot of black bean vegetable |
| take a picture of the lovely Mexican girl behind the | | | | goulash on his hot plate which kept him in food for a |
| counter with all those long loaves of fresh baked | | | | week or more. So I went to the local outdoor |
| bread.In the center of town stood a lovely fountain in a | | | | vegetable market and bought all the necessary |
| small park. Across the way I spied an unusual boutique | | | | ingredients and left them on his porch. I counted this as |
| selling fish related items. The owner painted beautiful | | | | my good deed for the day. Much too soon I was |
| pictures of exotic fish, framed and matted them for | | | | home again, sporting a California tan, a bunch of photo |
| sale. Among her creations was a mobile of various | | | | memories, and lots of story ideas. |
| reef fish made out of tin and hand painted to look like | | | | |