Memorial Day Weekend In Venice

We just had a nice long Memorial weekend in Venice, and I didn't leave the city limits once, which was fine by me. No holiday weekend traffic dealing for us, other than on the very packed bike path at the beach - again, fine by me.

The whole shebang started out with the Grunion Run at the beach ... which this year turned out to be a total bust while we were there - not one little fish did we see. So, we made ourselves feel better by belting out tunes and generally going nuts until the wee hours, hoping to see some grunion on the way home.We did not (but thank you to Paul Chesne for hosting the late night shenanigans!).

Long weekends mean beach days, and even though we're dealing with some May Gray these days, the sun did make itself known over the weekend. Tan lines 2017 have begun! I walked over and checked out the new rainbow lifeguard tower at Brooks Avenue, all dressed up for Venice Pride this week, looking great.The bright colors can be seen from blocks away, and certainly helped to brighten up the gloom in the earlier part of the day. Great job, everyone involved!

I was invited to a lovely party in the canals, where I discovered the "Venice Canals Art Gardens" tucked away there behind a little bungalow. Canal residents Deborah Groening and Peter Rother bought this plot of land so that it would NOT be developed by yet another big ugly box (BUB). Bless them, because they created a beautiful little oasis of nature there in the canals to be enjoyed by its neighbors. They all came together and pitched in to create and build the garden in March 2016, and now all benefit from the produce and gorgeous space that it took this village to bring to abundant life.

There was a big potluck picnic and a nice guy cooking up some great chicken on a big grill, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful twilit evening. Everyone seemed to know each other, and there is definitely a Canals Clique going on, but all were welcoming (if a little clearly curious as to who we were and why we were there). The highlight of the soiree was a performance by some guys playing the "Hand Pan", a hauntingly pretty instrument that we all got to hear a (very, very long) explanation of before they were played. It was a joy to close your eyes and listen to as you breathed in the heady aroma of all of the flowers blooming around us. Ahhh.

Another beach day was had on Sunday, and it began with the excellent breakfast burrito from Hinano's, which was all decked out for the patriotic holiday of Memorial Day with its attendant red, white, and blue everywhere. Everyone knows about the Hinano burger, but if you haven't yet tried the breakfast burrito - get thee there. It has hash browns (the thin, crispy kind) inside of it. Just trust me.

After a full afternoon of being on the beach body rotisserie, it was time to head to the Ocean Front Walk home of Colleen Saro and Steve Eustace's pad, who were hosting a fun margarita party. They had all kinds of different bowls of fresh fruit, and you would choose your combo, and Steve would blend you up a custom margarita to order. It was delicious, and what great people! We sat in their windows, singing songs, overlooking all of the Boardwalk mayhem, and considered ourselves lucky once again that this is where we get to call it home. The sun set, my phone died, and we later found ourselves at yet another fun party at General Admission's parking lot (where I was still dressed in my bathing suit and towel from the day). Rowdy times.

Memorial Day itself was pretty much gloomy all day, so you just make the best of it, and start the party earlier. It felt like the whole country just wanted to blow off some of the steam that builds up daily under this awful and ridiculous new administration, and all the horrors that have come along with it. Frankly, it was a little hard to feel patriotic when you know how our country is coming off to the rest of the World these days. These holidays are meant to show off the good parts of our country, and I think most everyone did a good job of that. Fun was had by all, according to social media feeds and notes compared.

My dear friends Jenny and Shane held yet another extra fun holiday BBQ on Memorial Day, and I think some parents are probably still over there trying to get their kids out of the pool! Good food, good drink, great friends, and feelings of gratitude ensured that it was a wonderful and memorable time - again. Thank you, Barachs!

So here we go ... on into Summer! The best time to be here in Venice, and the best time to live it up and love everything and everybody while we are all still here. I've been thinking like that a lot lately, really needing to live in each moment, because the World is crazy and nothing is guaranteed. It conjures up a quote I wrote down as a very young girl, from Philip Doddridge, an English non-conformist who lived in the 1700's  ...

"Live while you live, the epicure would say,

And seize the pleasures of the present day!"

Yes. Do! 

*Birthday shout-out to Tom Morello! Cheers, my friend! You're one of the very best people I know. 

Memorial Day In Venice - No Permit

It was kind of a drag to wake up on Memorial Day morning and find that it was completely socked in with fog, not remotely the beach day I'd had in mind. It's always nice to have a day off, even if it's just to catch up on reading or whatever else doesn't require sunshine. But then I remembered that my former neighbor Karen was hosting a block party over on Victoria, and we would certainly be making our own sunshine over there.

Karen's house is a landmark in Venice because it has had a big boat docked there in the yard for at least the last 20 years that I've known her. I've never been inside of it, it just sits there, looking great. We call it yard sailing.

This is a tight block, one of the good ones where neighbors look out for each other. Where Karen will leave you some produce from her garden hanging on the fence in a bag with your name on it. Where kids can bang into other kids' houses without knocking, and parents know they're all being watched in the village that it takes. Where kids wear tie dye.

As it was a holiday, there had to be live music. Nocona had us all stomping our feet and clapping along to their rock with a twang, and as they played this front yard hootenanny, that sun finally came out.

The grills were set up in the street, and as Karen said, "This is real Venice. No permits." Perfect. Neighbors grilled and shared their favorites there on the avenue, as kids and dogs raced around underfoot.

The dining table was a surf board, or your lap. Little babies and old ladies and everyone in between sat and chatted and told stories about how they'd met and funny things that had happened in the neighborhood over the years. It was exactly the kind of block party you want on a holiday weekend, all ages, and the more the merrier.

Paul Chesne played all afternoon, and was as great as ever, maybe even more so because we were all outside, enjoying being alive together. We actually toasted that fact many times, and also poured some out for those who are gone but not forgotten, especially on Memorial Day.

I hadn't been over to my old neighborhood to hang out in a while, and it was so nice to see old, familiar faces, and meet new ones - fun ones with eagles on their jackets. There was plenty of holiday spirit to go around, that's for sure.

I asked one old friend how her baby was, and she pointed to a grown kid and told me that the four week old baby was inside the house. Time is FLYING! Treasure it.

It was even trippier to find that the sweet little boy nextdoor was now 12 and a total ripper on guitar. Sean Vercos got up there with Paul Chesne and blew our minds. Someone yelled - as someone always does - "Freebird!" ... but I don't think they were prepared for Sean to tear that song's classic guitar solo to absolute sonic shreds. Like, jaws dropped. It wasn't like a novelty thing where he had it memorized either. He was in a musical conversation with the big boys all afternoon long, adding little bluesy flourishes in whenever they were perfect. I didn't see him look at an electronic device once all afternoon, he just wanted to keep jamming. Keep your ears perked for this little guy Sean Vercos is going places with that guitar (The video got cut off, but trust).

The sun began to set, people began to pass out, and the work week loomed over us as the morning would come fast. But there in the golden light, looking around at the dear friends and family that make up our fair town, it was all about being in the moment, and it was all good.

Thank you to Karen and everyone on Victoria who gave of themselves to make a wonderful day of Memorial memories for everyone!

St. Mark Memorial

I love it when brand new murals just seem appear overnight. This one of St. Mark now graces the back wall of the Danny's Deli building .. the Patron Saint of Dogtown watching over the proceedings of the Boardwalk ...

Murals are great for showing the character of a place certainly, but also to combat the influx of the ugly, generic saltine box houses going up all over town. They keep it interesting.

In memory of all the Venice people who have left us too soon ... and all the people who fought - and continue to fight - for us to be free. As a country, and as a town.

Happy Memorial Day! The beach beckons ...

Memorial Day Peace

There is so much more to Memorial Day than just another day off at the beach ...

But as I WAS riding to the beach, I came upon this yard sale. It's so perfectly Venice, but also served as a lovely reminder that there are so many soldiers that we hope are also resting in peace. I have many conflicted thoughts about our military and the war actions put forth in our name, but underneath it all is the fact that families have lost loved ones forever.

This one's for them.

PEACE!!!

X Marks THE Spot.

Happy Memorial Day ... though the holiday stirs a lot of feelings in my head that aren't exactly happy, but I'm too mellow for that today ... because look at the sky above:


Sky Writers (!) telling you straight out that you are exactly where you should be, nay, are BLESSED to be, and to suck up the moment as much as you possibly can. Literally, do it. Suck in the air down at the beach! It's so fresh and inspiring, and if you do a 360 spin, you literally see everyone smiling. As they have for centuries ... Families setting up camp, kids running back and forth into the water's edge, squealing like nowhere else. Everyone automatically chilling on out.

I'm out the door to re-join them all now, but just wanted to affirm how lucky we are, how FREE we remain. That is what we should be celebrating today, and those that have fought to make that possible ... even if it is in a Fight The Power t-shirt at the BBQ.



*Pic by Jen E.

Memorial Gratitude

Hi there. Did you go to a natural body of water over the weekend? Did you love it? I hope so. I had The. Most. Glorious. Day on the beach on SUNday, possibly ever. I had my Mermaid posse on the sand with me for the first real Beach Day of Summer 2010 at Playa de Los Amigos, and we all went all the way in the water, even though it was so cold my flesh was blue and you probably could have pierced it without me feeling it. But then to lie there on the warm sand, drying off in the very slight caress of a breeze, while sipping some contraband that bubbled that perhaps one of the Mermaids procured from her bag ... it does not get much better.

The Regulars of our usual spot at the Beach all showed up, and greeted each other with "Happy Summertime!", as this exact slab of sand is really the only place I ever see some of these people. It was happy, like a family reunion, but a Summer reunion. The guy that sells frozen treats out of his cooler, and always gives you a quick reminder lecture about sunscreen was there. There was a new guy this year that was covertly saying, "Ice Cold Coronas" and wearing a heavy-looking backpack. One guy selling his bracelets was throwing in a free lottery ticket with each purchase this year ... sign of the times?

June Gloom was another sign of the times, as it seems the atmosphere was totally aware of the Calendar, and was extra thick and gray this morning, after quite possibly the most beautiful weekend on record in the '10's so far. And then walking this morning, we saw another dead sea lion pup or seal ... I didn't want to get close enough to differentiate between the two. I didn't even want to see it at all. There were also so many jellyfish cleverly camouflaged in the sand that we really had to pay attention not to get zapped by one of those guys. A bunch of guys were out picking up all the trash that some Memorial Day revelers still can't get through their thick brains that you walk ten feet to a garbage can to deal with, not just throw it where you sit.

So after a perfectly stunning weekend on the beach, you get thrust back into real life. The BP tragedy on the news turns my stomach every day, and here we are with the blessing of clean(ish) beaches and water, and some mental patients still think the sea is both an ashtray and a trash bin. What does it take to get through to the dim bulbs out there that you have to be grateful and CHERISH what you have, while you have it? The news isn't doing it, so maybe us constantly talking and protecting it with each other and going on little rants like this, will. I'm at least gonna try.

Before Memorial Day becomes a day that we have to honor our fallen nature along with our fallen Veterans.



Thank you, Mother Nature, for putting up with us this long.




Photos by my cool brother PEG.