“When my toes are sunk into…sand and the ocean is lappiing my feet, when I breathe in the scent of salt and hear the cry of a segull, I know that I am returned to a place of restoration. I am home. I can heal here.”
—Toni Sorenson
At around 4 PM seventeen of us gathered together for our annual sunset BBQ at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz that extended into the evening.
The ocean waves were crashing thunderously on the shoreline, the wind was blowing, the seagulls caught the thermals and were soaring through the air as the sun slowly began to set. I paused my conversation with a friend to watch and take photos of it before it before it dropped below the horizon line. As usual it didn’t disappoint. I was reminded of a quote by Gene Amole:
"The sunrise [sunset], of course, doesn’t care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it.”
Fortunately, someone must have been thinking the same thing and called for a group photo before the sun disappeared. These are joyful experiences that unite us all and those around us. In the backdrop to our left was the 40-foot tall whitewashed Walton lighthouse that was reminiscent of cylindrical East Coast lighthouses where I and some friends are from. There were also sailboats drifting in and out of the harbor. All around us (mostly retirees) were children, college students, and young professionals enjoying what was an unusually warm and sunny day in the 80s. This was followed by some briny and cold bracing air flow straight off the Pacific Ocean when the sun finally set, causing the BBQ pits to flicker and glow in the dark up and down the beach.
Seabright Beach stretches out for a half-mile. This sandy beach sits between the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and the Santa Cruz Harbor.
From time to time I bike these parts with friends on our way to Capitola or Wilder Ranch in the opposite direction. Although considered smaller by some, Seabright is one of the most favored spots for sun worshippers, dog lovers, and a favorite spot to catch the sun rise or set.
Everyone in our group brought side dishes, desserts or alcohol. Along with appetizers like sushi, hummus, eggplant dip, pita bread and other goodies some of us enjoyed beer, wine, and or canned cocktails, though they had to be poured into a cup and kept out of sight for fear of being busted by the California State Park Police who came by for some spot checks. The younger, noisier and larger crowd bore the brunt of the check ups especially at nightfall and were given warnings.
Once again our good friend Mark Brodsky grilled kosher beef hot dogs for our group as he has done in years past. We had a number of desserts that thanks to the Hamiltons included ingredients for S’mores: a straight-off-the-fire marshmallow which is the gooey centerpiece with a square of melted chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers.
Postscript: Thanks to Marlene and Mark Brodsky for organizing this annual event. A great time was had by all. We missed last year due to the pandemic.
