California

Blog #3

I am a creature of habit. It is difficult to break away from my usual routine, but I realize how much I need it when I do. Travel forces me to leave my studio and renew my thought process. Using my camera, I collected colors, textures, lines, and shapes to use again.

 Last week, we visited our son and fiancé in Southern California. I experienced new colors, scenery, and senses.

We hiked on trails through heavily planted slopes of sages, wild mint, yucca, and cacti. Aromatic smells swirled and faded as we walked, the fragrance mixed from sweet to medicinal, herbal to pungent.

Little notes of color made me stop to observe delicate tiny buds tucked behind greens and browns. I am mindful of muted plum grays of leaves and grasses. Yellow mustard soared above the hills, heightened due to a month of rain. Poppies bloomed in a mass of orange, blanketing the landscape. Have you ever noticed how colors are more vibrant on cloudy days?

On another hike to Trestles, we viewed the surf breaks named Cotton, Uppers, Middles, Lowers, and Church. Standing on a ridge, I watched surfers dressed in wet suits. They reminded me of seals bobbing in the waves waiting for their chance to catch a wave. “To catch a wave” was described to me as “freedom.”

 The ocean horizon was barely visible against the sky.