Sept. 8th: Back to Encinitas

Google has again disabled the original blog software. The picture placement is awkward in the new software but I guess I'll get used to it. Perhaps there are things I could do but just don't know how. I'll pursue that later but I want to get this one finished.

Stairs to Swami's Beach

After being away for almost a week it was nice to get back to Encinitas. I was gone long enough that I could tell it had been awhile since I walked the stairs to and from the beach. I usually do two sets of stairs which is enough! Well, at least for me.

Swami's Beach Encinitas, CA

Swami's is a very popular surfing spot. There is a point that creates great waves for surfing, at least so I am told. There are almost always surfers out there from daylight if there are any waves.

Sculpture at Swami's Beach

A couple years ago a huge tree had to be taken down at the beach park entrance. Fortunately, someone decided to make good use of the stump instead of just cutting it down.









Next to the stairs to the beach is the Self Realization Fellowship Center. Swami's was named after Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, because the grounds and hermitage of the Self-Realization Fellowship ashram, built in 1937, overlook this reef point. The buildings and grounds are very distinctive and are often included in pictures of Encinitas. Click here for history of Self Realization Fellowship Center

Self Realization Fellowship Center

 Usually the meditation garden and grounds are open to the public, but with the coronavirus I wasn't able to get in to take pictures. Actually, this site has great pictures. Garden and grounds Pictures

House demolition across the street

I was sitting at the computer one morning and heard a big crash. It sounded like a gigantic sledge hammer or something coming from outside. I went outside to investigate and heard big machinery. My apartment is in the back of the house on an alley.

The noise was coming from the front of the house on Belleview. I walked around to the front of the house and was surprised to see a huge steam shovel smashing the house across the street. It was a slightly older home but it did not appear to be in bad shape.

Former 3 story home

I guess someone with lots of money is going to build a new one. It was quite noisy and dusty at the front of our house. Fortunately, my landlord and I have good air conditioning so we closed up until they finished. It took several days to haul away the debris. It did not appear that they were saving anything, even though there appeared to be perfectly good doors, windows, lighting fixtures etc. It reminded me of the I Robot movie where a giant Robot is sent to smash a house while Will Smith was investigating.

House is gone

I started this blog a week ago and it was pretty quiet across the street for several days. Then some big trucks came in and they started loading the debris. This is how it looked today. The tear down is complete and construction is beginning.

I decided walking wasn't enough outdoor activity. I always enjoyed riding a bike so I went to Matt for help in finding one. Matt's knowledge of bikes is amazing. We discovered it was very difficult to buy a bike. Because of the coronavirus almost everything we looked at was "Out of Stock". Even used bikes were almost nonexistent. Fortunately Matt suggested trying the Encinitas Bike shop. They had one mountain bike that just happened to be what I was looking for. There are many bike lanes and trails around Encinitas. I am enjoying riding along the coast highway and through a variety of neighborhoods.

Steve's new Trek mountain bike 

Fun whale bike bell  

Steve on his maiden bike voyage on Matt and Wendy's street

As I rode through one neighborhood, I came across Aloha street. The sculpture on the end looked like fun so I rode down that side street. The people on this street really are into mailbox decoration. I decided all that effort was blog worthy! Here are just some of the mailboxes.

These people really stayed with the Aloha theme. There was even a banana tree.

The weather turned very hot for a few days. I have air conditioning. Matt and Wendy do not. We decided it would be a good time to host my first dinner party at my place. After several selfie attempts, this was the best I could do. Dinner was getting cold! I had slow roasted short ribs from Lazy Acres, our favorite fine foods grocery store. They were excellent.

While travelling through Colorado Wendy stopped at a Thrift store. She found a new 550 piece puzzle for me. Of course it is an ocean theme. It took many days before I finished putting the sand together. You'll notice the pieces are all the same color. The blue ocean pieces are also going to be a challenge but the turtles and fish will be fun.

Wendy had some art supplies she was donating to a kids art school close to San Diego. I decided to ride along and stop at some thrift stores for fun. I was looking for bright Type One T-shirts that fit the Carol Tuttles' color chart that I posted on an earlier blog. No luck for me but Wendy found some. I did find a nice little frying pan. Cooking for just me, a large frying pan isn't great. Part of the lure of riding along was stopping for a takeout lunch at an interesting place. Wendy found a Somalian restaurant. The menu was limited but there was one chicken item we both thought sounded good. There was a nice park close by so we took our lunches there and enjoyed sitting at a picnic table in the park. We felt quite safe as the picnic tables were at least 100 feet apart and the park was relatively empty. Faridas Somalian Restaurant menu

My plants are doing pretty well. The Inca Lolly (Alstromeria) on my balcony is attracting hummingbirds as I planned. It's fun to see them but hard to get a good video. This is the best so far.