No matter what I do or where I go in the World, this scene always makes me remember who I am. I have spent hours and hours on this beach and hours and hours wishing I was on this beach.
This is Capitola, California right before the sun goes down. The little houses pictured here are called "The Venetians" and are painted in all the colors of the rainbow. When I was a kid I stayed with family and friends in a lovely blue one of these for a week every summer before my parents decided to move to the area good when I was five. I see now that those summers set a high standard for what I thought my life should be like.
If I was looking at this scene in real life I would be on the deck of a bar called Margaritaville, most likey catching up with old friends over a salt rimmed double margarita and being made fun of about how bad my sunburn from the day was.
As an adult I grow restless everywhere I go, and there is no doubt in my mind that had we chosen to move back to Capitola I would be feeling restless. However, in this moment when I am looking at this photo it seems like the only place in the world where I can have my particular and familiar Californian experience. Good thing I am pretty sure that my authentic experience will still be there when I get a chance to go back. The sunset on the water and the salt rimmed margarita will be waiting for me.
