Sunday, June 24, 2007

Perfect Quote


"The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or
the sea." -Isak Dinesen


(Sweat: exercise, hard work, determination; Tears: feeling emotions rather than feeding emotions, rejoicing in accomplishments, being honest; Sea: remaining calm and peaceful, seeing the "horizon" -- the big picture and your end goals.)
My darling sister Jocelyn, got this from her WWF meeting (WWF=AK's term for Weight Watchers, which I attend too, not the same meeting, but, anyhew). The first thing I think of is how much I love the ocean. Having grown up at it, and on some occasions having homes right above it (Ocean Dr. CDM) or on it (7106 Ocean NB) or having Dad's "office" beach house (2006 Seashore NB, greatest idea for an self-employed office EVER!) I am absolutely in love with the beach, the ocean, sea life, anything to do with it. My favorite bird is the sandpiper.
My favorite activity I have ever regularly done and love to do when in town is ride my bike ride through Crystal Cove, which leads me to some serious reminiscing...

When we lived on Lighthouse (Fabulous view, location, a short ride to the sand) I replaced some less than desirable habits with exercise, mostly riding my bright orange DiamondBack all around CDM. I loved going on a ride then picking up a baguette from C'est si Bon (at their old CDM location) and riding home imagining being in France a la 'Manon of the Source' (one of my childhood dreams to have a flower farm in France is derived from seeing this movie with the family at the old Port theatre, thank you Matt for all things French culture). So I finally got into a daily routine, I would ride down the neighborhood hill, across the Goldenrod footbridge, along Ocean getting the morning glimpse of Big, down Poppy (still my favorite street) along PCH and into Crystal Cove. I would ride through the park (seeing lots of bunnies, and on occasion a snake) and end at the bottom of the hill (which is now the drop off spot for the shuttle, below the Shake Shack) leave the bike and run along the sand to El Morro. On the way back I would stop at Starbucks and get my breakfast (a blueberry scone and drink*, which btw the ladies were never cordial with me, although I went their daily, and through the school year, almost daily, when we didn't go to Ruby's or Balboa Bay Club for breakfast) and sit outside on the wall and enjoy watching the daily commute unfold. Oh and during the day I would bike to the beach (El Morro was the playground of choice at the time for me and friends) or through Laguna for beach and shopping or the meet my Dad at the Laguna Wahoo's (one of my favorite things EVER, meeting my Dad there I mean). I would bike to the BBC some days and work out and lounge at the pool. Man I loved life, and I really did appreciate it, which is why I was so out there taking advantage of the outside life, the sun, the sand, the lifestyle. And I won't even mention the car I drove particularly that summer - okay I will for posterity (since my Dad, hint, a true Mercedes man, had just purchased an E320, his previous M convertible was "available" to drive. I don't recall EVER having the top on! And MY car was a VW Cabriolet convertible (but at this point I may have been sharing with Rachel, because I really drove the SL a lot!). So I've gone on, but I reminisce for when I am 82 and having a tough time remembering why my darling husband and I live on Balboa Island and why I insist on having breakfast outdoors, and why I love the smell of the ocean so much. And why I have had a convertible ever since moving back to the sea (a must for those in sunnier climates!). I was 17/18 at this time, a prime time of life, I must say. I could eat whatever I wanted (Wahoo's veggie burrito, chips, and all the rice and beans on the plate for me thank you!), had a very light job (hostessing at the Spag like 3 times a week, for like 3-4 hours a shift - I did get employee of the month once though!), and very understanding and/or clueless parents (eg BBC bills) to accept my beach focused life. I guess they just let me enjoy before I hit the real world out of state (okay college wasn't quite the real world yet, but being away from home was tough, as you can imagine). I finally did hit the real world and loved working at Pac Life (and being able to relive and repeat life again in NB with my best friend, soul mate, and eternal companion AK), oh and then the real, real world started I guess (moving to PHX - okay still cush overpaid job, then H came along, Tulsa, Casper - when things got most REAL, Farm-town, and now SLC). I still think upon those blessed days and remind myself how I need to live for now and enjoy the SLC while we are here. Which is why I love that we went on a great river walk in Park City yesterday with the family. And go to Red Butte, and be with family and friends, because who knows where we will be in 2 or 5 or 10 years and I don't want to wish I hadn't taken advantage of everything there is to offer here and now.

When my kids want something they can't have I infamously say "Well, I want to be the Queen of England and live on the beach!", which Holden is famous for pre-saying, when he knows I am about to say it, after he has asked for something he knows he cannot have like "I want candy for breakfast, and you can't live on the beach!" Don't get me wrong, I still intend to live as near the beach as possible, within daily walking distance, but actually living on the sand, I can at least still dream.

5 comments:

Kathy said...

I love this quote too, it's on the bottom of my blog. :)
Also I love that you want to be the Queen of England and live on the beach. Haha.

Rachel said...

Love this and all the memories! Can't wait to play with you!!

MarySue said...

Oh Annette-After reading this, I feel like you just took me on a vacation. May we go biking someday please. Biking was one of my most favorite things to do also as a girl but my most exciting place was racing around Pete's Fish and Chips parking lot on Indian School Rd. in Phoenix. I had a terrible wipeout, major road rash but Jody cried more than I did. Your memories are so much more fun than mine.

Anonymous said...

Great look at the carefree life of one of my amazing Newport Beach girls...and lots of wonderful memories. The marvelous thing is that each phase of life is special. Enjoy the day. Love Dad

Leslie said...

i've always loved that quote, too. it's so very true. i'm always amazed at what a little time at the ocean can do for my stress levels. :)

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