Point and shoot

It's remarkable, really. Now that I have my new camera, my kids are begging me to hang out with them at the beach and snap pics of them while they surf. I should have bought this toy years ago!

For instance, when younger son asked me to tag along with him to the beach to take some pics, I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the camera as fast as I could. As a mom of teenagers, it's these kinds of moments that we don't even dare to dream about.

I dropped him off with his surfboard at the top of the stairs to the beach, and turned the car around to find a parking spot. Anybody who has ever been to Laguna knows that finding a parking spot in summer is like finding the Loch Ness monster, or Chupacabra, or any other mythical thing out there. They may be out there, but it's not likely that you'll find one. But fortunately I was pretty lucky that morning.

I dashed down to Thalia Street Beach, set up my camera, and started looking for my kid. Even with my eye glued to a 300mm lens, I still couldn't find him.

 I decided to shoot some pics just to practice. I got some ok shots of some guys out in front. I'm still learning a lot, so this kind of practice is pretty valuable.

The waves were good, but I noticed that just south, at Brooks Street, some big sets were coming in, so I pointed the lens south, and shot a few streams of pics just for the fun of it.

We uploaded the photos, and he immediately noticed that the pics that I took at Brooks Street were of him!

Just another winter day

Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days in a really good way! I really do feel sorry for my east coast friends who are stuck in blizzards and ice storms right now, but I just have to be another annoying Southern California gloater right now. It has been so gorgeous out the last couple days, wandering around the beach and hiking up the hill have been an utter delight!

The view along Heisler Park

Through the palms
Notice not even a ripple in the ocean

Looking north from Heisler Park

Oh, what a day! It's is about 80 degrees on my back deck right now. Not bad for the middle of winter!

Don't hate me because I'm warm. Well, I understand if you can't help yourself.

My friend and I hike from Laguna Village to Top of the World neighborhood, which is about 1000 feet elevation, anywhere from once a week to maybe four times a week. I've had this idea for awhile of creating a wind screen for my back deck out of old glass doors, so yesterday when we happened to notice these out in somebody's front yard in their junk pile, I had to snag them.

Junk? Who could resist?

Not being able to control myself, we loaded them up in my car, and I went to work on them, making them into 2 separate folding screens.

Make sure bottom is even, so when you stand them up they don't wobble.

Lay out the doors on a flat surface. You'll need 4 hinges.

Screw in 2 hinges, one near the top, and one near the bottom of the door.
You'll then need to flip the doors over, so you can screw the other 2 hinges on the next panel.

Yes, I still have my feather wreaths up. I think they'll be up until at least February.

And there you have it. One screen completed!

Voila!

I put together the second one even more quickly than the first. Now I just have to get one of my guys to help me drag them out to the back deck. Wish me luck!