V is for Venice

"V" stands for Venice Beach. And there I was several weekends ago in July helping out with Heal the Bay beach clean up. I have been to Venice twice now. The first time was when Paul, my roommate from Tempe, came to visit me during Easter weekend. This time I did it alone. The part I was in is considered relatively safe because of the number of cops around but there are parts, like where my landlord used to live, where you do not want to be around. But if you are in LA, Venice is a place where one should stop to look around (the Venice Beach boardwalk). My relatives from Brooklyn did that when they breezed through LA.

I came to Venice bright and early that Saturday morning. Even beat the Heal the Bay volunteers. So walked the beach a bit.

This may be deceiving in the sense for seaweed but in reality it is full of garbage. Plastic, clothes, balloons, strings, and other odds and ends that is toxic to the environment come ashore. We are close to Balona Creek which bring out tons of rubbish to sea. While we may consider beach clean ups to be helping. The real need is to clean the streets of LA. It is where it all starts. If there is a cleaner city, cleaner water ways. But I witness people throwing trash on the ground periodically. Like today, a bus driver asks me for a glass of water (at my work when picking up some clients). I go and get her a glass of water. While I am standing there making sure the clients get settled on the bus. I see her finish her glass of water and she tosses the cup just behind me on the ground. I see her face. Not a care in the world, like it is typical to dump unwanted rubbish on the ground. I go and pick it up. It is sad. The street cleaners hardly do a dent but rather congregate the trash elsewhere.

And so I spent the majority of my morning picking up the rubbish. There were a lot of people there helping out. Two groups from Surfriders and a local yoga club were there as well. And I was picking up trash with a group of young Japanese teenagers. All of them were speaking Japanese and I have no idea why they seem to like follow me around... perhaps I found the best places for the mass amount of rubbish? We were all ambitious in filling our bags and getting more.

Now while this is all happening on the beach. Swing 180 degrees to the land and this is the sight you see. I took the tour through the famous Venice Beach boardwalk. It is hard to describe and even capture with a camera. One really needs to be there in person to experience it. And so I leave you with a few photos of snapshots of the infamous boardwalk.

Muscle beach. Where I am told Arnold Swartzengger started it all in America. Is that actually true, who knows.

Street performers. Believe me the cobras are real. There was a two headed turtle being shown at a local "Freak show." Poor animals.

Now, this was an interesting story. The group that was connected with "SAVE OUR MOTHER EARTH, THE POWER OF LOVE" was a group that I would say dressed like those who come from the North African continent and even the middle East. They had their drums and were singing away. The big sign said that they were the lost tribe of Israel. I guess one of the tribes got lost from the 12 that were sent out? But they were proclaiming peace and goodwill to all. That was a theme seen periodically. LOVE. LOVE your neighbor, LOVE nature, Peace. Very hippy. And there were bonafide hippies who i thought looked like had remained in some time capsule. Because of the dress, attitude and such.

And other stuff like this. "MEAT IS MURDER" There was another stand that was anti Bush Administration. Even though I do not exactly favor the Bush administration, there were some downright ugly words being professed in bumper stickers and handouts.

And so this continued for about a mile or so. It really is an odd place. Where everything comes together. Bizarre, cool, and perplexing. I am not sure if there is any place quite like it. At least that I have experienced. Hippies, druggies. There were guys about my age asking for donations so they could buy some much needed marijuana. There were times I was wondering where in hell am I? I felt like I was caught between some time era but confusing. It was like a comedy at times. I am the audience looking around. And indeed at one point I just stopped and started laughing, laughing and laughing. Some passerby probably thought I was part of the "act" too. There are a few stores of interest that I liked and stopped in and ended up chatting with one of the owners of the store. He was trying to get me to buy a hammock. I fancy a hammock but have no place to put one. And so we ended up talking. In itself that was different for me because I am rarely chit chatting with people. This is LA, land of unfriendly people as they say.

And in the midst of all that. I look to the ocean for some grounding as the ocean and water for me is a place of tranquility, and I happen to catch someone doing just the same. It was a rather interesting moment in time as I remembered. Right at the moment when I was thinking everything is so bizarre and crazy, I look for a sense of focus, inner collectiveness. And it is there. So real to me. I see this fellow meditating and all around me everything just seems to disappears, non-exist as it becomes only he, I and the ocean/sand before me. Then as briefly as this moment came, it was gone. The buzz of activity comes back and I am once again in the world that so often we think is they reality of our daily lives.