conquering the pacific.

I am finally conquering the strong waves of the Pacific. Truthfully, going into the ocean out here scares the living daylights out of me. I feel that I have no control over myself and that the sea is stronger than I. There is a massive undertow that doesn't exist in the warm and calm waters of the Atlantic. The temperature is below freezing and the waves could and will swallow me in one big gulp.

I can normally ride the waves out as if I were in a wave pool, but here, you have to dive through and under or else you'll come crashing with it into the sand. It has happened to me before and I thought I was going to die.

As of late, with the holidays and having no work on Monday's, the Zoo and I have been spending our lazy mornings at the beach. Him surfing, and myself finishing off my last couple of hours of morning zzz's and then waking up on the beach to read a book. Once noon hits, we leave Zuma Beach in Malibu and head down the coast to my favorite cove - Point Dume. It's perfectly tucked away in cliffs located in a very ritzy neighborhood and the water's hue becomes a sparkling ombre of topaz and emeralds. There are fewer people, dogs running around splashing, and for a moment I feel like I am in the south of France.

August has been a very hot month, especially for living by the sea, you'd think the ocean breeze would keep Santa Monica cool, but it's not. So, shockingly, the ocean water has been quite refreshing. Normally, I'd think anyone was crazy to step foot in it. So I have been brave and I've been conquering the Pacific. It's a rush. For one, I wear contacts, so every time a wave five times taller than me comes along, I have no choice but to dive under and I don't even have time to think about it. But once I swim back to the surface, I have to rub my eyes because my contacts are irritated. Before I know it another gigantic wave is coming at me and I have very little time to prepare myself for it. Like I said, it's a rush. But the more I swim in the ocean, the more I find myself enjoying it and now I'm a little bit addicted. I never thought I'd see the day come where I'd be swimming in the Pacific comfortably.

On some other random notes, this cat down the street keeps finding me to hang out. I am not complaining one bit, but I do find it comical how cats always seem to find me. Zeke and I were watching 'Mad Men' the other night and our door was propped open to allow a breeze to come in and randomly we heard a meow and the next thing you know, this kitten is just letting herself in, jumps on our couch and snuggles up to us in our leopard blanket purring. I WAS IN HEAVEN. And luckily, the Zoo didn't mind, so we let her stay awhile knowing that she'd just go back to her home once she was done with us. And that she did. We didn't have to kick her out or anything. She just did as she pleased.

I love the area we live in during the golden hour and at night. The shadows of the palm trees come alive and the silhouettes in the pale moonlight form. Fog rolls in and the scent of the warm ocean breeze fills the air. Zeke and I will take walks some nights and come back through our back alley way because its shorter. There is something about our back alley way that transports me into the past. I think it's because of all the telephone wires looping down the street but it takes me to one of my favorite songs by Lana Del Rey, 'Summertime Sadness.' If you don't know Lana, she's unique. The tone of her voice is haunting and can hypnotize you. She portrays a character like Priscilla Presley and has this very old hollywood feel to her image and music. When I hear her songs, and listen to the lyrics, I imagine Los Angeles in the 40's and 50's. In 'Summertime Sadness' she sings,

"I'm feelin' electric tonight. Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99.... I feel it in the air, telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare."

I have always imagined how those scenes of the lyrics played out in my head and I always envisioned scenes from the 1946 film, "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

And then the other day, it dawned on me. Zeke and I were walking home through the back alley way and I could hear a sizzling. I looked up and the telephone wires were sparking like sparklers and for a moment I was nervous because I've never see such a thing, and asking Zeke about it, he said it's normal. Then I remembered Lana's lyrics, "telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare." And they did, they did just that. They sizzled like a snare and I thought to myself, "so what she sings about Los Angeles is true." As weird as it sounds, it made everything come alive from the past. And now every time we drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, I hear her haunting voice in the back of my head, "cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99." The pale moonlight is sparking across the ripples of the black sea while the warm ocean breeze blows on our faces with the windows rolled down and all along the coast are telephone wires sizzling like a snare. She described it perfectly. I am probably making no sense right now, but with the combination of Lana Del Rey's music, and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and all the original typography of the hotels and apartment buildings, all of the art deco that swallows Los Angeles whole puts me in this state that I can't help but eat up. I truly feel like I am living in a dream, or getting just a small taste of what the past was like. And I'll take as much of that feeling as I can.