sands of christmastime

Today was the annual Hermosa Sand Snowman contest. I managed to get up at the crack of dawn (ok, 9am, but for me thats the same thing, especially lately) and bike down to meet my friend Pat for some wandering among the creatures growing out of the sand. It was a strangely perfect weather day - clear enough to see two ridges of mountains off past Malibu - one of those days you really remember why we live here, especially with the Christmas stuff starting to show up everywhere. The contest was fun. The ones that were the most impressive in scale also seemed to be the least impressive creatively - mermaids, a candy cane...zzzzz. Santa Claws - the crab - was a new one I hadn't seen before and probably my favorite, though there was plenty to like. Christmas has officially hit the beach. (and for those of you that live in the area, Christmas Fireworks are next xxSaturdayxx - oops, SUNDAY, they're Sunday.)