Showing posts with label Santa Barbara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa Barbara. Show all posts

Monday, October 21, 2013

Childlike Presence


Image courtesy of Sweet Crisis | FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The wind passing through the eucalyptus trees temporarily distracted my senses from today's harsh reality and took my mind back to a time where I found joy in closely observing minuscule insects go about their daily business of survival. They were steadfast and perseverant, my holy teachers. I sat upon decomposed granite, feeling tiny pebbles embed into the skin of my bare legs, leaving artistic indentations of which I'd later count and discover patterns. There was no hurry, nor any need to stand and present myself in any way that simply wasn't. I'd imagine the fallen acorn caps to be tiny hats for fairies, or castles for ants, or I'd organize them into miniature villages. 

These rare and most cherished childhood memories didn't consist of loud screams in bounce-houses, nor birthday parties with slightly creepy hired entertainment, but of quiet moments alone in the backyard of my grandmother's house in Santa Barbara, with the sun warmly caressing my face ever so gently and the wind moving through the trees making everything come alive, all at once. 

I wonder, are introverts born or made?

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sea Urchins & Naked People


Prickly subjects.
Santa Barbara—the place I'm headed today. I mention it frequently in Everything's Hunky Dory, as it was the one place I could count on creating good, positive, comforting memories when I was a child. Including the time 'Daddy' took my brother and I down to the beach on a beautiful, sunny day for an adventurous tide pool excursion so he could point out the sea urchins, sea stars and such. The sea urchins were beautiful, colorful, and strange, but could only hold the attention of two curious children under the age of five for so long, before they noticed a nude couple sauntering past, holding hands. "Why do those people have so much hair on their pee-pees?" we asked loudly, pointing at them as kids tend to do.

Poor Daddy.