California truly is a land of contrasts. Civilization and nature clashing in all their glory. The dream is still out there amongst the chaos and concrete. One day, I'm naked on a remote stretch of coast north of Santa Baraba, getting ready to surf some glassy little peaks by myself. The next, I'm getting lost in Inglewood, trying to find a freeway that will take me to Disneyland of all places, while the mileage on the rental car creeps past 800. Everything came to a head in a Venice Beach Pool session. The surf/ skate symbiosis still thrives and you can't tell what ethnicity the locs are. Hip Hop, punk rock, grafitti and gang steeze where the urban nightmare meets the beach. We find a little slice of Utopia right in the thick of it. Ground zero.
Cayoucos to Huntington. Steady diet of Tecate and fish tacos. I considered it a little reccy for a future attack.
The journey started with a study of "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" on the plane and ended with, "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy." When I realized that irony, I think I just might have passed my crash course in California.
