Heavy surf rolled into Laguna last night, far heavier and more forceful than we’ve seen yet as a result of Hurricane Alex. Today my youngest son and I awoke to it having poured rain again and a beach with such a severe slope at some spots as to make walking rather challenging.
In case you think I’m exaggerating, take a closer look at this photo of one of the lifeguard towers. Yesterday, there was a good amount of sand in front of it. And today…? Take a closer look at the runners it sits on. Notice how they’re sticking out into thin air as the sand that was under them, thus making the tower stable, has been washed away. Then there’s the whole it’s been roped off to the side of the mountain so that no one will occupy it and so that it doesn’t get swept out to sea.
And as if that’s not enough to get your heartbeat up, I couldn’t help but notice that the corner foundation, holding up a six-story beachside hotel, is now only four feet from where the forceful waves have carved away tons of sand thus creating a now six-foot high sheer face of sand where there was once a level beach. And atop this sheer face of sand stands the corner of that hotel. (Glad I’m not staying there for the week!)
I must say this has been an interesting visit. Although I’ve lived my entire life in southern California going to her beaches, I’ve never been at one while a storm of this magnitude—the kind that makes the news—obliterates the face of a beach.
Day-by-day, my youngest son and I have watched lawyer upon lawyer of sand get carried out to sea. At first, this created a bit of a slope to the beach. Then came the massive tons of rotting seaweed dumped upon the shore. And now, so much sand has been washed away, that the sand of Laguna’s Main Beach has been washed down to a foundation of sharp-edged bits of broken shells that aren’t nice to walk on barefoot. And if you manage to traverse the shattered shells, you’re rewarded with rocks the size of soccer balls bashing into your ankles by the heavy surf.
And if you head the other direction, toward the big tide pools that are still closed, you might as well put on your scuba gear as that’s the only way to navigate the area that’s usually a nice sandy pathway. Now it’s a sandy pathway for less than twenty seconds at a time after which it’s submerged by waves crashing full force against the rock wall.
Like I said, this week’s been rather interesting—never a dull moment.
I don’t mean to sound like my son and I aren’t have a good time, we are. It’s just quite different from what we thought we’d be experiencing while here. But different is good. It tends to stand out more in our memories. And this trip is certainly making an indelible imprint, complete with the earthquake we had here this afternoon.
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