Montecito BURNSsss

A close Evactuation. Just a another night in SoCal...

JALAMA ("J" pronounced with an "H")

What does Jalama mean?  The simple answer is that Jalama is a beach on the rugged and windy coast of California...

Located at the end of a twisted road that leads through oak lined canyons, Jalama was once home to Chumash Indians who lived off the land and sea.

This is a baby Sea Urchin I found  on the beach.  Sea Urchins are an avid resource on the Cali Coast.  This is about 2 inches wide:

My friend Jaime said (his name also pronounced with and "H") that the Indians use to call Jalama the "Gateway to Heaven"

My friends come here to surf and camp.  I drove 45 minutes north up the California Coast to be in the presence of God...Peace does not escape my constant thoughts here.

I found a place on this ravine that gave me a place to sit, and contemplate HOW WINDY IT COULD POSSIBLY BE and still keep a sane, mind-thought sequence.  So windy!!  Jeez.  How do you gain peace from a place that whistles it's existence in your ears at a constant rate of 25 mph?  I came away from this escape with the knowledge that: 1#.  My BMW can hold a curve in 2nd gear like no other.  2#.  My life/lifestyle is too noisy, and I need to make it more peaceful.  The wind of life is bright and vibrant, but where in my daily life is a time of peaceful reserve?  
 

Peace and tranquility, to me, are the essentials of life.  Where do you find yours?

the Douglas Family Preserve

The Douglas Family Preserve (Michael and Kirk Douglas) is a 70-acre grassy mesa with over 2,200 feet of rare, undeveloped ocean frontage. Jaime and I and Sage explored it...

The preserve is covered with mature oak, eucalyptus and cypress trees.  The trail loops around 150-foot mesa along the edge of the cliffs.

No, Sage, don't jump!  ( she wanted too)

The waves looked good, but our day was spent enjoying the Preserve...(and the doggies)

This land was tried and tried to be developed into housing, but the locals prevailed, and we have the beautiful gardens of California as a free, public land to enjoy.

In Memory of: Davidson College

Who picks all 1# teams to be in the Final Four?!?  Well, to start my dad, two co-workers, two ESPN analysts, and the majority consensus of the nation.  

A Spiritually-laced blog is in order.  With all this competition going on, my competitive nature is on full-tilt.  After reviewing Ryan Adair's blog (http://ryanmadair.blogspot.com/) , I realized in order to compete, I must lay down some God talk., some prophetic weather-predictions, if you may...

This one is too easy.  Curiously enough, it has mentioned more by the Common Sports announcer than the Common River prophet.  Here it goes, see if you can follow:

Davidson College is/was the #10 seed in the Midwest division of the Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament, commonly known as "March Madness" or "The Big Dance".  64 teams enter, one comes out as Champion.  Davidson College came close, today (03/30) they lost, making this the first time in NCAA Tourney history that the Final Four is made up of all #1 teams.  Davidson was the only Cinderella team this year to make it this far into the tournament.  ("Cinderella Team" refers to a team of low ranking/stature to defy expectations and defeat the bigger, better team.)  Davidson was constantly referred to as the "Giant-killer" because of it's prediction-upsetting wins and convenient name.  Davidson was in the constant position of David in the battle vs. Goliath, and until today, was always the victor.

The leader of the Davidson team was a young man named, Stephen Curry #30.  Many times during games had Stephen saved the day with his expert ball-handling skills as well as pin-point shot technique.  Stephen Curry

was not recruited by any of the #1-ranked teams, even #2 or #3 , despite his father being revered, retired NBA star, Del Curry, a person of the highest status of his field.  Stephen was too small, and still holds the looks of a high school student, as do most of his team members.  They were passed over as not worthy of high-level competition or leadership.  Across the chest of each player was the team name. Davidson.  See where this is going?  Imagine Pat Sajek.  Now picture him say "Let's get Prophetic!"

Stephen Curry, the son of an NBA king, and the Davidson team represent the coming time of Solomon, King David's son.  He bears his father's resemblance in his lack of fear of the enemy and unquestioning trust in the confidence his father instilled in him.

This is expressed in Davidson #10: Curry #30...oh wait I mean Proverbs #10:verse #30...written by Solomon: "The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land."  It is this philosophy and personal conviction that shot David and His lineage into the position of inheritance for the rest of his life.  

This chapter begins with "The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father..." It is a time for "Solomon's" to grow thru submission and tutorship of their fathers.  How do you recognize a Solomon? Those individuals who are a David-wannabe, or are under the current reign of a David.

Hear this:  Wisdom will be the fruit of this season, as well as, Stability and Self-Control.  This applies to the lady-folk, as well.  

Did I beat Ryan Adair?  That's all that matters in the end :)

The More You Know...

You remember those NBC interludes "The More You Know"? With the stars that swing across and a pop-culture celeb that introduces some useful piece of info that reminds you to teach your kids to read, or that dyslexia is a prevalent issue in society?  Well I like the phrase, b/c one of my life's philosophies is that the more I know, the more fulfilling my life will be.  This post will be not only about a recent day trip of mine, but will give you insight into the sealife of the about Santa Barbara's Channel Islands and its habitats. 

 On Easter Eve, myself, Adan, Edgar (Adan's bro), and Captain Craiger set off to sail to a local reef named, 4 Mile, to bag ourselves some good BBQ dinner consisting of Rock fish and/or Sheepshead.  The green spot on this map is the general area of our final destination (above, right pic)

 4 Mile Reef is, appropriately 4 miles from the coast, and about 2 miles from our Oil Rigs.  California is one of the few states that could sustain itself as an independent nation.  300 days of sunshine provides ample growth for

 extensive produce and livestock, as well as solar energies and "Green" living.  We also have our own oil, even though its not just ours.  Santa Barbara, even though Oil Rigs are a permanent fixture in our ocean view, has some of the highest gas prices in the country.  Gov. Schwarz needs to lower our taxes.  It all backwards, in my opinion. Amen and amen. 

Back to the day at hand...

Our Captain, Craig Daniel Lewis, a fisherman/boatman for over 20 years.  He has fished in the dangers of the Bering Sea for Cod and Crabs and now harvest Local Lobsters, Spot Prawns, and Sea Urchins. His sailboat was our vessel:

So, we cruised to the 4 Mile Reef to find some Rockfish or Sheepshead.  The wind and bottom current quickly pushed us to move further inland and prohibited an extensive fishing experience.  We were blown into a trying time of retrieving anchors and criss-crossing maneuvers in order to reach our mooring (a secure line at which to "park" our boat). Our outboard motor ran out of petrol (gas), so we fixed a skiff (a small transport boat) to the side of the sailboat where I presumed a stance in the skiff of 'ready, pounce, capture' while our remaining crew manned the steering and sails.  We successfully grabbed the mooring, tied up the sailboat and rested, enjoying the experience. 

 We then retrieved a trap pot of local spiny lobsters we had stashed at our mooring.  Spiny Lobsters have no claws like the Common Maine Lobster, but their meat is just as brilliant and sweet.  Grilling or sauteing is the best way to enjoy these creatures.  The upcoming meal satisfied our desire for fresh seafood.  We tailed the poor crustaceans, added butter and hot sauces, and sauteed.  Langostas (Ma and Pa, my Spanish lessons are paying off)  The pictures explain our delight:

  A great trip.  We ended the day with a 30 minute ride in the skiff from our parking spot at the mooring to the Harbor.  The sun set and we all held hands....not really, but we could have and it would have been perfectly alright.  The beauty of the Sea is my delight...

Brighton's Brightest

Utah. Interesting.

I was surprised, to be honest.  I loved it.  Salt Lake City was where I learnt to ski when I was young.  

My dad's brother, John, lived there and we visited in the 80's.  We skied above the clouds.  I had no idea how vast in beauty that experience was.

Since then, my love for Utah has diminished.  I have no distain for Mormons, but it seems the subtle prejudice of society against them has crept into my sub-conscience.  My experience of SLC was all-encompassing and all-fulfilling, but it's taste of Mormonism was prevalent in the common society of the Salt Lakers.  

Examples ahead:

This list mostly deals with alcohol and bars...it does not directly reflect on my SLC experience (meaning: I wasn't a bar toad):

*every pour of liqour was passed thru a metered device that let out exactly 1 oz. of liquor (1/2 oz. smaller than regulated shots) AND counted the quantity of pours.

*no pour must leave the bar without being drunk in front of the tender of that liquor

*in order to enter a bar, you must purchase a membership

*there are no happy hours b/c the Mormons-in-charge do not want intentional times when people purpose to drink more than usual.

ok.  there are actually more rules....a lot more, but I am thinking the Mormon-measurer of SLC is solely based around its control of the night-life....and that was only about 25% of my vaca (vaca=vacation, Mom)

Let's focus on the edifying aspects...briefly and with 3 pictures:

Curtis Sigoda and myself at the Hogswallow.  

A local happy Sandy pub.  Oh yeah! Despite the intense alcohol laws, smoking inside of bars is completely legit.  Bars get shut down for a few weeks as a penalty for not abiding by liquor laws (this being one of them), but smoking inside and creating a massive cancer cloud for all to partake is completely legit.

I skied like a bastard (cuz bastards ski...sorry, Mom), real-estate is cheap, mountains are all around, there is ease in and out of the city, above par NBA games, white sidewalks, expensive liquor habits, smokey interiors...it can go on.

Utah was great. 

 Thanks mostly to my friend Curtis and his parents.  My legs hurt, my hips hurt and my ego hurts.  Go support the Utes.

In a State of Construction

This will be up and running soon.