Chariots of Fire

When I was in Agoura Hills for the 10K on Saturday, the theme to Chariots of Fire was being played on a loudspeaker at one of the houses on the route just before the finish line.


I had to laugh at myself running to that theme--I never expected that to happen.  


Today on the Santa Monica Beach the theme was still playing in my mind as I jogged, and I wondered if there are words to it.


At any rate, instead of la-la-la I began singing words that came to mind:


With all of Your beauty 
I run by the sea.
With all of Your beauty
Spread out around me. (repeat)


Oh may I forever walk with You
For all of my days!
Oh may I forever walk with You
And always give praise.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102150538747404124091/2012DawnAtSMBeach
 Link to more photos on Picasa

A Few Good Terns

Rain last night and a sky full of spectacular clouds at 8 am today... the beach full of seagulls and sandpipers, but also a few royal terns...  So spiffy with their fluffy upturned black feathers behind their ears, like Jimmy Dean or some other '50s rock star.  The one on the right kept squawking at the guy in the center... he was imperturbable.  (Or was he squawking and she impertubable?)

Dogs Not Welcome

Dogs aren't allowed on the beaches of Santa Monica, Venice, Redondo Beach, etc.

People are working to get one beach set aside as pet-friendly. So far, no luck.

But today at dawn Stormy and I ventured out to Dockweiler Beach. We jogged on the bike path and made a brief photo stop near the breakers, but a lifeguard drove past and informed us that the fine for her outing would be $500 if he chose to ticket us.

No more beach trips for you, Stormy.

High above the beach...

Today Roz and I walked the dogs on Inspiration Loop in Will Rogers State Park, about a thousand feet above the Santa Monica beach.

Just as we began, there was lightning, thunder, and rain... but later a partial rainbow and dramatic sunset.

We so seldom get huge dramatic clouds here... enjoying the beauty.

Last photo: looking south toward buildings and beach of Santa Monica with Palos Verdes Peninsula off in the distance.

Laguna Beach

A walk on Laguna Beach with Sharon Billings, Karen Torjesen, and Jeanne Sales...

Cloudy and cool... but still beautiful.

Waves too big to surf

Stormy waves arrived from New Zealand... 10-12 ft. high.

For the first day or two, no one surfed.

Then the brave ones ventured out again.

Shakey Quakey

One of the fun things about beach walking in Santa Monica--and life in Los Angeles in general--is that The Big One could occur at any time.

The 6.7 earthquake a few days ago, Oct. 21, in the Gulf of California near La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, is a reminder of this fact. If you draw a line from the fault this quake occurred on, it goes north to about where the San Andreas Fault ends.

The Pacific plate is grinding north against the North American plate, and currently the movement is occurring right about on this continuing line.

Today there was a much smaller quake near Bakersfield, not far from the Tejon Pass, site of the biggest earthquake in California since records were kept.

That earlier Big One was in 1857 on the southern half of the San Andreas with ground rupture visible from near Parkfield CA down to Wrightwood (not far from San Bernardino). It was magnitude 7.9.

Here's the info on it:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1857_01_09.php

The only buildings around at that time were Fort Tejon, some houses in Gorman, and a few ranches. Only one person died in that quake--when an adobe in Gorman collapsed.

Quakes have occurred on the southern section of the San Andreas fault about every 150 years, so we are due for another movement any time now.

This morning's 3.7 quake occurred in a field near Mettler CA on Highway 99 south of Bakersfield, 20 miles north of the San Andreas. Here's the info on it:

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/recent/ci10826277_l.html

From the Santa Monica beach to Bakersfield to Palm Springs, we will all have front row seats for the next time the Pacific plate moves five or ten yards north against the continental US.

The 6.7 Gulf of California quake on Oct. 21 occurred at 11:53 am--an hour and a half after The Great California Shake Out at 10:21. This earthquake drill was the third widespread duck-and-cover exercise in California--the first two just in SoCal but this one observed throughout the state.

The shift in Baja California was almost in sync with the scheduled drill. Good vibrations.