ah sunflower

we drove to monterey friday night, after we picked nick up from school, and listened to halloween satellite radio all the way there. it was a bit spooky what with the ambient noise, ghostly tales and goofy songs like 'purple people eater', but we made it to cannery row just fine. we were tired and ready for bed but i wanted to get the lay of the land so me and nick walked, after we checked in at the hotel, walked down the strip to the end of the street where the monterey bay aquarium sits. not much going on for a friday night. a couple of clubs open, a few dozen people hanging outside. the highlight was watching a mother sea otter and her young pup feed just a few feet away and below us from the hotel balcony.

the days were lovely. nick was in heaven at the splash zone at the aquarium, the area designed for kids young and old to touch and pet various sea creatures. there was a decorator crab, star fish, kelp, seaweeds of all sorts, bat rays and so on. nick even impressed a docent when she pointed out some barnacles and nick said, yep those are crustaceans. she asked nick, you are really six?

but it didn't feel like halloween. it felt more like a day at the beach. which it was. when we checked out of the hotel we drove a mile or so down the road to the city of pacific grove where there is a beach. a gorgeous beach full of swimmers, combers, divers, picnicers, families hanging out and so on. it was sunny and warm. we can see a fog start to roll in but that's probably because the weather was so warm. warm air hits the cool ocean and bingo, you got fog.

i ate too much. which is what your supposed to do at the beach, right. we have proof in the form of pictures of our adventures. the halloween feeling kicked in soon as we left the ocean. that light, that california light! especially in the fall. i tell you the 19th century impressionist and post-impressionist painters would have cum in their pants upon seeing such light.

we got home and i needed to go to the grocery store. sunflowers were for sale. i picked a bunch and brought them home to anna. tomorrow is halloween. the sunflowers sit on our dining room table. trick or treats begin in a few hours.