Winter barely happened in Southern California this year. We had less than half our normal rainfall and the winter weather, such as it was, was benign. For gardeners that lack of rainfall is not good, but for watersports enthusiasts the fun in the sun has started early.
Paddleboarders threaded their route through the canals on Naples Island in Alamitos Bay on the day I was there. Most of them were riding paddleboards which they had rented on a nearby beach.
At the same beach kayaks were available for rent. A sign admonished prospective kayakers that they had to know how to swim! (I can’t imagine deciding to go out in a kayak without knowing how to swim.) And about a block away, kitesurfing boards and kites were lined up on another beach, this one actually facing the ocean, ready to rent to customers. The day I took these photos the Santa Ana wind was absolutely ferocious and not one person was kitesurfing. The kayaks seemed to be attracting the most business most probably because of the fact that the water on Alamitos Bay was less rough.
After taking these photos I went to my favorite bakery, Babette’s Feast on Second Street, where, looming above me was a huge billboard to remind everyone to save water. We don’t have mandatory water rationing in Southern California–yet–but with the continued effects of climate change, we may face it soon. Then it really will be too late for rain dances–or maybe it already is. [It is too late for Babette’s Feast. It has since closed.]
Originally posted 2014
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