I decided to take a chance with the Labor Day crowds, and pedal down to the beach for my morning walk. Instead of hot sunshine, it was grey and foggy, with a cool wet breeze blowing in from the south, so I was hoping the crowds would not be there. I actually had to put on a sweater.
The air quality was supposed to be 'moderate', but I found ash on my bicycle seat from the fire out East. (pict below) California has been burning to the ground all summer. My lungs are tired of breathing in the sickly sweet-smelling acrid smoke, and even the shortest bike rides leave me breathless. With the extremely high temps and smoke in the air I am so grateful my AC was fixed a few weeks ago.
Despite the fog and cold breeze, the beach was crowded. Tourists sat in webbed chairs along the shore, shivering in their bathing suits. You could barely see the waves, the fog was so thick and as I walked along squelching kelp bulbs, joggers emerged from the grey mist with frightening suddenness.
Dog Beach was packed. I like to walk along the flat shoreline close to the surf, but it was impossible to do this safely today, so I headed into the sand further away from the water. It made walking difficult but there were very few people. By the time I reached the end and turned around, the sun was already coming out and many more people were appearing. Lots of joggers, running three and four abreast causing the slow-moving elderly to scurry out of their way.
I find myself looking forward to the winter season, and less crowds.
Winter???....
Where on earth did this year go?

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