Venice Lights Up For 4/20!

Venice woke up to a new addition to the Venice Sign this morning, with two weed leaves (created by metal artist Alberto Bevacqua and his son, Ara) adorning either side, in honor of 4/20, and the end of the ridiculous marijuana prohibition that this country has endured for ages. It's pretty much 4/20 every day in Venice, but it's still nice to acknowledge the day this year, especially now that it's legal (here).

And it should be. It's medicine. Plain and simple. I remember asking a friend if they ever thought they smoked too much weed, and they said, "No. It helps me not want to kill myself and everyone around me." While that's an extreme example, some days I sure get it. A person posted on Nextdoor this morning that they were "overly offended" by the new sign's leaves, and to that I would agree. You ARE overly offended, and probably shouldn't live in Venice either. It's really no big deal, and I'd much rather have kids see that than alcohol ads. No one does anything bad on marijuana (other than perhaps overeat with munchies), and we all know all the damage that alcohol has done historically. I've also never heard of alcohol ending children having seizures. Or shrinking tumors. Or bringing comfort to chemo patients. Etc. Etc. Etc. Please.

The sign probably looks much cooler lit up at night, but I'm not going to be down there tonight, and it's to celebrate today. I was heading back when I saw these two cheery guys strolling down the street in their "Best Buds" shirts, and they were SO excited when I told them to go take their picture under the sign with matching leaves. Cute.

We used to have a croquet tournament on this day every year in memory of our dearly beloved Sponto, but now people are all over the place and it's hard to set up, but the spirit remains, and today is sunny and beautiful and Friday, and time to cut loose with some extra good vibes. So, HAPPY 4/20 to one and all, and YOOOOOOOEEEEEEE SPONTO!!! This one's for you.

April In Venice

April was one of the craziest months on record in my life, but it's the last day and all is well. Phew! I'm relocated to a way better pad in Venice, getting into the new groove of the new neighborhood, and taking a second to think about it all, and am more grateful than ever that I live in such a dope community (no pun intended).

Amid all the hoopla and change, we did gather the troops for our annual Sponto Memorial Croquet Classic at the beach. A freezing cold wind and fog scene swept through, and demanded that I change my theme for the day to Punk Hawaiian, to be bundled up a bit.

Though the fog and chill in the air definitely dampened the proceedings, that didn't come close to happening to our spirits. They were extremely high.

I got very laser focused on the actual game of croquet this year (mostly to keep warm), and it paid off in some very serious wicket domination - though I still never got to be the Stinger.

Tom Everhart had the most ferocious eye of the tiger, and killed nearly everyone.

Angel brought her delicious and very special carrot cake, and we had high tea on a blanket in the fog. Bunny's tequila also helped combat the chill.

There were a few guests we'd never met before who lectured about the anti-yogi behavior of the $99 to get in Yoga Fest happening in a big tent on the sand right near us, and that we were in fact more truly yogis, because being a yogi is about sharing love, and that's obviously what we were up to. I liked that view point - far more than the metal balls he proceeded to bang together for the next 4 hours.

That view point is also what I can sum up the entire last bit of time to be for me ... People in Venice, sharing love. It makes everything else that happens so much better, when that's the place you start from.

So bring on May, and everything crazy that goes down in it, because it's all LIFE.

With love.

The Sponto Classic Memorial Croquet Tournament - Rain AND Shine!

April 20th is the day each year that Venice friends and loved ones gather to play croquet and celebrate each other. Sponto was always an attendee, and now that he's gone, we've changed it into a Memorial to remember him and all the good times we had together.

This year, the day broke gray and ominous. We remained positive right up until start time (1:00) when we had to admit that the rain was actually falling. Horizontally. We put the word out to meet up at Hal's to ride out the rain delay. In costume (as this year's theme was "Alice In Wonderland").



Two Alices, Two Mad Hatters, A Rabbit, A Flamingo, Tweedle Dee & Dum, some in Sponto Orange or Rasta colors, and a host of others (perhaps too daunted by the rain to fully garb up), started the party with some drinks, eats, and Growing or Shrinking pills (orange jelly beans) by the bar at Hal's ... until the rain slowed to a mist, and then stopped altogether. Like we knew it would.




That was our cue to hop on our bikes and head down to our chosen plot of lawn down at the Bike Path to get in a quick round of Croquet before the weather threatened us again. We set up the wickets, laid down the plastic tarps and blankets for the sitters to sit on (with brightly colored cupcakes and tea sandwiches for our Tea Party!), and chose colored mallets, just as the Sun broke through.


Cold and windy as it was, the high spirits kept us more than warm enough (the flasks of champagne didn't hurt either), and the Spontaneous presence was felt as much as the sunbeams. He would love that the gang gets together in his honor on this day ... dressing crazy, blowing off everything else on a Tuesday, and going absolutely nuts in his name. I know he would also love that a lone saxophone player leaned against a palm tree a big chunk of the time, never even interacting, just serving as the emotive soundtrack for our annual tribute.


To know Sponto was to love him. And each other. It's a great thing to set aside a day just to revel in that. So we do each year, but it really is something that ties together our Venice family all year long. The One Love vibe ... It's catchy.




*Photos by www.PaulGronner.com