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