Day 61

Friday, November 12, 2010. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Pulled the rug out from under protagonist. Heh, heh. We’ll see what she does now. Next week.

THE DETAILS. . .The islands are back! Walking on the pier this morning I was delighted to see in the distance the outline of them, mysterious humps that come and go. They show up infrequently, late fall or winter time. Today was my first sighting in a long while. I’ve studied the map, trying to figure out which ones might be visible.

As I was pondering this, a fisherman greeted me. Then he said, “You’ve got to see this.” He pointed to the islands, as excited as I was. “There are the San Clemente Islands (to the north).”

And I hadn’t even asked. =)

“Now look over that way (south). You can see Coronado Island. We never see that so clearly.”

Wow. To see these bits of land way out in the ocean where it’s usually only water is like being given new eyes.

I learned from him that the islands become visible when the desert winds blow away all the gunk in the air, smog and whatever. But I still prefer my idea that it’s autumn, the air shifts, sunlight slants in low, the earth tilts in her orbit and offers a different angle to awe us mortals with new beauty.

Tidbit: The San Clemente islands are owned by the Navy, used for training. As in blowing things up. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Chunks of rock for war exercises. They’re still amazing to glimpse from a distance.)