Two Oceans

Busy outdoor day today, so just a little something I found that looked absolutely lovely: our Pacific shore, near Point Mugu, California:

And our Atlantic shore, on Hunting Island, South Carolina:

 In case you are wondering, the Pacific here is cool, a decent level of salty, and pristine blue.  The Atlantic here is warm (almost hot, thanks to the Gulf Stream), not terribly salty, and brownish, both features because of so many rivers pouring into the ocean.  The Pacific has wonderful beaches but is also quite rocky for much of its North American coastline.  Down here in California, more so towards the southern reaches, you don't tend to see a lot of trees, but rather wonderfully dense and lush chaparral (some of the plants were in a winter remission, when the California pictures were taken).  From Virginia Beach southward almost to Cape Canaveral, Florida, you get a lot of what you see above, some dunes backed by wonderful towering pine forests, and southward, including here, palms.

For now just some nice coastal scenery.  I'll revisit both places in detail later. 

Seeking A Pleasant Climate?

Tired of persistent heat, cold, rain, drought, dust, overbearing weeds?  Looking for the perfect place wherein one can keep their windows open all year, day after day, without fear for sudden rain or the sudden dash to stop a thermostat from taking control?  Do you wish to never experience anything remotely connected to "seasonal" again?

Look no further than the San Diego-Tijuana international metropolitan area!  January days in the mid 60's, July days in the mid 70's, and almost no variation otherwise!  Only 10 inches of rain a year!  Temperatures moderate enough to keep one from ever worrying about either frost or drought again!  The swaying palms of the tropics combined with the great frigid swimming pool of the California Pacific right off the backyard!

OK, so its covered in a nice layer of haze and smog much of the time and the water bills tend to be a bit extreme, but for anyone who wants a truly "in between" climate, coastal Southern California is the place to be.  The risks involve potential water hardships if California keeps overdrawing its reserves from farther afield than they ever planned to ship water in, not to mention earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, insane wildfires (at least with the current wildfire management strategies), and, you know, forgetting that the rest of the world exists, but climate wise the place can be pretty nice. 

There is probably no better place outside of Hawaii and southern Florida for growing a large assortment of palms and even quite a few tropicals.

Having the Pacific Ocean for a backdrop is also pretty nice.  Big blue moderates the temperatures and is amazing water to swim in.

That said, the environmental damage in southern California is catastrophic.  Development has almost completely changed the world there, in many cases actually adding significantly to the natural disasters, especially where wildfires are concerned.   Outside of the North American prairies, there has probably been no place worse affected than here because of the removal of native flora and fauna.  Part of this lies in the fact that precious little room is available for continued expansion (the same problem that southern Florida faces); miles inland lies the beginnings of the deserts of the interior, and even walking a few blocks away from the beach turns up the temperature a few degrees.  Still, people will keep moving to sunny Cali so long as the natural living conditions keep remaining so amazing.  Midwesterners, Lakers, and Northeasterners often look on at such places in envy for the lack of general extremes they have, especially when contending with too much or too little of the good things like moisture, chills, and heats. 

Still, you can never slide down a hill on a sled here in the wintertime.  You can't have many kinds of fruit trees that need a little winter chill to properly fruit.  You can't even make good wine when the heat turns up (not that I am... heh... in any way unappreciative of California wines.  Napa can still manage to get the heat when it needs to.  You know, if you want to make pretentious statements about superiority.)!  Eternal spring is not for everyone or everything.  I often remember this when I feel gloomy over a Michigan late spring, early frost, baking July, or overly frigid January.  We do, after all, have amazing forests, prairies, and water that could make even the majestic Pacific blush.  Perhaps the best thing to do is appreciate what one has and try to make the most of it and learn all one can about it.  The pleasant climate might just end up being the one where the most familiar things flourish. 

Ocean Beach, California

Your typical southern California beach scene, with a layer of pollution faintly visible on the horizon, overpriced condominiums, expensive parking, and for some reason an agave in full bloom growing wild on the sand.

It seemed like a pleasant picture, so I thought I would use it.  The title is the location of the beach.  Like many coastal towns, everything is densely packed in and almost no one has a private stretch of ocean front.  Most of the small yards get paved over, and those that do not get planted with palm trees, mostly the tall-growing, salt-tolerant Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia Robusta).

The neighboring community of Sunset Cliffs features slightly larger yards, some houses even having pools.  For the most part, however, things are packed as tight as sardines in a can.  Ironically, things here in the seaside high rent district are just as packed here as they are across the border in the slums of Tijuana.  In contrast, densely populated seaside Miami and Fort Lauderdale feature your average size yards and free parking lots, despite space also being a premium in a southern Florida that is otherwise largely too wet and spongy to support much in the way of a city.

The median house price in Fort Lauderdale and Miami closer to the ocean and intercoastal waterway is around $250,000 U.S. currency.  The median house price in San Diego and affiliated towns such as Ocean Beach is $520,000 and more.  Florida, it seems, is the place to get a vacation home, whereas California is the place to live.  Both places have pleasant climates, southern Florida being largely tropical and coastal southern California being what can best be described as "eternal spring", never much deviating from 60-70 year round.  Both places get tons of sunshine.  Florida can present hurricanes, which used to be dealt with by having homes constructed of concrete (it worked).  Coastal southern California can present earthquakes and tsunamis.  Things in general are far more expensive in California than they are in Florida, and yet still the demand for real estate is so much higher in the land of the easy going sunset.  Maybe it is something in the name... people have been attracted to her so strongly for nearly 250 years now.  Southern Florida?  Maybe for the past 70 years or so, once they started cutting down the mangroves.

I happen to like mangroves.  And coconut palms.  And fun Caribbean sea shells.  Still, that crisp Pacific water does feel pretty amazing, and it has a lack of dangerous jellyfish near the beaches in Cali, along with fun things like kelp and sea lions.  To each their own!

The Clean Pacific

I was going through the California shots looking for more material related to yesterday's post when I found this lovely picture I took of the gentle surf rolling onto a beach out in those parts.

This was taken at Leo Carillo State Beach in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, one of the most lovely parts of remaining natural southern California.  Though garbage from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch does wash ashore now and then, for the most part the beaches of southern California have absolutely lovely water that feels amazing.  The best places to go, as you would expect me to claim, are the natural beaches found in parks and preserves.  Not only do you usually get a cheaper parking option (this place is actually free if you just park alongside the Pacific Coast Highway, which puts you closer to the beach anyway), you also get to see some amazing plant and animal life and enjoy some really great natural sand.  I maintain that the same is true for most beaches on the continent.  

Wednesday Filler: Kelp Strand off of Point Loma

I was rummaging through some pictures taken at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego and came across this lovely shot of the top of a giant kelp strand.

The waters off of southern California are wonderful.  They can be quite cool, even in the summer months, as the California current brings a chill southward from the Gulf of Alaska, but this ends up being rather life-giving.  On trips to various beaches, I have never failed to see at least some marine life offshore, and it is all the best kind for swimmers, mostly mammals.  Even if the sea life is not readily visible from the surface, it teems below, in patches of kelp such as this one.

Wednesday Filler: The Beach is Calling

Today, in Michigan, in March, it was 75 degrees and sunny.  This made me want to sit on a beach.  Here is one I did that on two Marches ago, in the Santa Monica Mountains.  Well, more so on the beach at the base of said mountains.

No, the ocean is not really sideways, even if everything else in southern California seems to be.  I think at the time I had just come out of the water and was feeling a bit relaxed.  This was taken at Leo Carillo State Beach, which is at the intersection of Mulholland Drive and the Pacific Coast Highway.  Unlike most other beaches near Los Angeles, it is not crowded with people, the parking is free, and everything is quite natural, down to the darker patches of kelp you see out there in the water.  There are also cliffs which provide shade, and fun tide pools.

Some people have no desire to ever go to California.  I would suggest they consider a trip to its more natural parts, well, those that remain anyway.