and that means NO CABANAS!!!
Finally made it to the beach today and yes we went to La Plata. The road once you turn off the gravel was very muddy, but we made it in our 2x4 just fine. We were the first ones there. I busied myself setting up our "refuge friendly" cabana. Here's a shot of it:
After that it was cleanup time for La Plata. There was garbage all over the place. Lorrie and I gathered 4 bags of junk. When we took the bags up to the trash cans we noticed that our friendly refuge personnel had placed a new sign for all to see (or trip over). Lorrie took a picture of me standing next to it:
If you look closer you can see what they consider an untidy beach. I love the red "NO" and the arrows pointing to the cabana.
It doesn't really bother me anymore, but honestly, driving that huge metal T post, right in the pathway of what is one of the best vistas looking out from the tree to La Plata just smells of Big Brother.
.
I'm surprised they didn't bury a 12" I-beam in 6 yards of concrete. In my opinion a much more useful approach would be to have a sign with a trash bag dispenser. Maybe a picture of plastic liter water bottles and plastic bags, rather than a cabana, encouraging people to pick up trash. But not in the middle of the damn pathway. The refuge seems to be getting a Orwellian patina to it.
Ok, enough venting..it's out of my system (for now).
The beautiful thing about beaches is that they're always changing, sometimes so subtle that you don't notice it, although being away for nearly 9 months allows one to take notice. What I'm referring to is the way the beach edge has changed over near the rock gallery. Used to be you could scoot around the rock outcropping at the east end of La Plata and walk up onto a short sandy stretch, we've balanced a lot of rocks in this area. The sand is gone and what's left is a rocky ocean bottom. The water is deeper now too, when you go around the rocky point. I've taken a lot of pictures of this area and I took one just this past Feb. Comparing Feb to the one I took today you can really see the difference.
Over at the rock gallery there's been a lot of activity. What's been created is akin to a small city of different rock creations. (I'm expecting another huge T post over there by Feb). I saw stacking, balancing, and what look like just piles of coral and rock. People have created miniature stupas with conch and dried sea fans adorning them. It looks busy to me, too busy. You have to remember that I was indoctrinated into the rock balancing art form by Judy and Andre, who adhere strictly to the Swiss line of design, with a splash of Zen thrown in for flavor.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.”
Less is more.
Anyway, Andre would talk about Chinese Scholar Rocks and their aesthetic value. This is what we shoot for in our rock balancing. For what it's worth here's a picture of a Chinese Scholar Rock:
It is great to see people participating and to think Judy and Andre started all this. How kewl is that!
Lorrie and I will be doing some curating in the coming days.
:-)
ADSENSE HERE
Finally made it to the beach today and yes we went to La Plata. The road once you turn off the gravel was very muddy, but we made it in our 2x4 just fine. We were the first ones there. I busied myself setting up our "refuge friendly" cabana. Here's a shot of it:
After that it was cleanup time for La Plata. There was garbage all over the place. Lorrie and I gathered 4 bags of junk. When we took the bags up to the trash cans we noticed that our friendly refuge personnel had placed a new sign for all to see (or trip over). Lorrie took a picture of me standing next to it:
If you look closer you can see what they consider an untidy beach. I love the red "NO" and the arrows pointing to the cabana.
It doesn't really bother me anymore, but honestly, driving that huge metal T post, right in the pathway of what is one of the best vistas looking out from the tree to La Plata just smells of Big Brother.
.
I'm surprised they didn't bury a 12" I-beam in 6 yards of concrete. In my opinion a much more useful approach would be to have a sign with a trash bag dispenser. Maybe a picture of plastic liter water bottles and plastic bags, rather than a cabana, encouraging people to pick up trash. But not in the middle of the damn pathway. The refuge seems to be getting a Orwellian patina to it.
Ok, enough venting..it's out of my system (for now).
The beautiful thing about beaches is that they're always changing, sometimes so subtle that you don't notice it, although being away for nearly 9 months allows one to take notice. What I'm referring to is the way the beach edge has changed over near the rock gallery. Used to be you could scoot around the rock outcropping at the east end of La Plata and walk up onto a short sandy stretch, we've balanced a lot of rocks in this area. The sand is gone and what's left is a rocky ocean bottom. The water is deeper now too, when you go around the rocky point. I've taken a lot of pictures of this area and I took one just this past Feb. Comparing Feb to the one I took today you can really see the difference.
Over at the rock gallery there's been a lot of activity. What's been created is akin to a small city of different rock creations. (I'm expecting another huge T post over there by Feb). I saw stacking, balancing, and what look like just piles of coral and rock. People have created miniature stupas with conch and dried sea fans adorning them. It looks busy to me, too busy. You have to remember that I was indoctrinated into the rock balancing art form by Judy and Andre, who adhere strictly to the Swiss line of design, with a splash of Zen thrown in for flavor.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.”
Less is more.
Anyway, Andre would talk about Chinese Scholar Rocks and their aesthetic value. This is what we shoot for in our rock balancing. For what it's worth here's a picture of a Chinese Scholar Rock:
Not that any of this matters but there really is a method to our madness concerning the rock balancing, especially if you look at this piece I did this past Feb. Andre was particularly found of it:
and this was another he really liked:
So what does any of this have to do with today? Here I'll show ya the pictures:
Lorrie and I will be doing some curating in the coming days.
:-)