Sunday, January 23, 2011

Just chillin' and a great panel discussion Monday

In the grab bag of life, I got some wonder and some pretty awful the last few days. Someone did a hit-and-run on my parked car doing $1,000 in damage.
But I got a rental and spent one afternoon at the gorgeous cliffs of Dana Point. More photos below.
*
And I went to a fabulous party last night hosted by my crit partner, Rilla and her husband Satish. Besides great food and conversation, they had everyone bring a photo and story of travel adventure. It's amazing how wildly different the stories turned out to be--a fictional dig to China, a proposal in Paris, a gasping crawl up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
As for me, I flubbed the telling of finding a stone circle on a foggy moor in Devon. I've told it lots of times, but I think I babbled incoherently this time. Ah well, I'll blame my distraction on my poor injured Miata.
Anyway, the evening itself was picture perfect.
*
The sky tonight is pink-and-blue stripes. I think Dr. Seuss dreamed it up. I feel like I should hold someone's hand and skip.
*
*
WriteOnCon alert!
Tomorrow, Monday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. Eastern there will be a live panel discussion with Pippin Properties, Inc. agents. Holly McGhee, was formerly an executive editor at HarperCollins and Joan Slattery was an editor at Alfred A. Knopf.
If you've never been to a WriteOnCon chat, it's easy-peasy. Just sign in and type a question. The moderators pass on the questions.
I, sadly, will miss this one, because Monday afternoon I'm at my very own live critique group, which is actually cause for happiness. We rock, just sayin.'
The good news is anyone can visit the WriteOnCon site later and read the transcript. I know I will.

*



More Dana Point, because it's awesome. The trail around the tide pool hugs this cliff, but it's been mangled by flooding and landslides since heavy rain in December.
Those massive boulders tumbled down from above. And, there are houses hanging on the edge of those cliffs!
The trek over all the rocky shore is actually invigorating. There's always some wobble and give when you step and the crunching of stone on stone.
The tide pools were really fun to explore this time. And I saw dolphins enjoying the waves with two surfers. Everybody was chill.

*



A nice fan of mussels.






*



*



And stunning anemones, sea grass, hermit crabs and more.

*





20 comments:

J.B. Chicoine said...

I just love the pictures of the anemones. It must be wonderful to live so near such warm beauty...

Tabitha Bird said...

beautiful pics!
Sorry to hear about your car.

Bish Denham said...

Oh your poor Miata! But a Dr. Suess sky can surely help make the boo-boo hurt less. Love those photos!

Paul Greci said...

Sorry about your car :(
I've been to Dana Point--not for some years now--thanks for the beautiful photos.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Bridget: I must confess I love being in temperate climate. The ocean calls to me with its mystery.
I grew up in colder places and sometimes miss the seasons, but then I remember how loooong winter can be. Sorry if you're freezing, my dear!

Tab: Thank you. I hope all is well in Brisbane now after the flood. What a terrifying time that must have been.

Bish: Oh yes, a Dr. Seuss sky can heal my sorrows and peeves many times over. I noticed it too late to photograph but it was an otherworldly stunner.

Paul: Thank you. The cliffs in Dana Point are where they used to throw down hides to sailing vessels. They're sheer drops and right along a bay. Gorgeous.

Tere Kirkland said...

These pictures were just what I needed this morning. I had a great weekend, but it went too quickly, and I just didn't want to get out of bed!

VR Barkowski said...

Sorry to hear about your car, and grateful you weren't in it!

Ravishing photographs, I think my pulse lowered just looking at them. Thank you.

Donna said...

Since you didn't confess that your Irish landscape/boulder/umbrella picture won top prize at Rilla's party, I'm telling ...

Robyn Campbell said...

Oh my that Miata's been hurt! Sorry 'bout that, Pat. That's a lot of damage.

The photographs are so enchanting. *Robyn slips outta Talespinning long enough to type a book idea into her file* :)

I see your Irish landscape/boulder/umbrella picture was a huge winner at the party. You rock, girlfriend. You rock!

I'll try to make that chat, but not sure. 5:00 is feeding time on our farm. The horses and all other assorted animals don't like it when I dawdle on the computer instead of feeding them. :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Tere: I had to talk myself up this morning, too! I was having a dream where a young girl was talking toooooo much and people were turning away. Then I realized all she needed was for someone to listen. So I'm all ears today.

Viva: Yes, I'm grateful I wasn't in it, too. I'm so glad the pictures affect you that way. That's how it is for me when I visit places of natural beauty--I feel the peace settle into me.

Donna: You would! Okay, yes, my photo won. It was actually taken at a stone circle in southwest England, way out on a moor. Magical for me at the time when the stones loomed out of the mist, for sure.

Robyn: It didn't look that bad until I realized my car door would only open a couple of inches. Sigh.

Ooooo, you got a story idea. That thrills me. Can't wait to hear what you do with it.

Suzanne Casamento said...

"I feel like I should hold someone's hand and skip." Love that. Totally got it.

Great pics. Love Dana Point. Love California. ;)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Suzanne: I'm soooo excited you got my skipping. :D

Denise Covey said...

Hey Tricia, these are awesome pics.

Anonymous said...

Awesome pictures.

I missed the WriteOnCon event. I went on this summer, and I'm glad to see they'll have year-long chats.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

L'Aussie: Hi and thanks!

Medeia: I can't believe how much the WriteOnCon ladies have put into that. Truly amazing.

Sarah Laurence said...

Horrible about the hit and run! What a beautiful place to visit – fabulous photos.

Angela Ackerman said...

gasping crawl up Kili, haha, that was me last summer. And that was only to the base camp!

Sorry about the hit and run--that's terrible. Hugs and thanks for always seeing the good in the world, even when you hit the road bumps.


Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

Catherine Denton said...

Your pictures always amaze me. I'm sorry about your car but I'm glad you took in nature's beauty.

Stephanie Thornton said...

Do you know how much I love your pictures? I always know I'll get to see something beautiful when I click on your blog.

And I love the idea of Dr. Seuss clouds. Toss in some truffula trees and you've got utter perfection!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

SarahL: I love how diverse beaches can be. Some tame, some wild. This one is all about the rock, and it's a marvel.

Angela: Ha! Yes, I've heard it's a killer climb. She said after days of ascent, the last segment began at midnight and finally took her to her knees.
Aw, thanks for thanking me. :)

Catherine: Hi and thank you!

Stephanie: Oh, wouldn't it be fun to have truffula trees with the pink and blue sky? Where are my paints???