I’m walking down the road in Isla Vista with one foot in the present and the other foot somewhere in the past. Street vendors sell jewelry from the sixties ..the fragrance of incense and ganja drifts out of open doors and windows ..UCSB students, with dreadlocks and tie dye shirts, weave skateboards between people and cars ..girls on beach cruisers chat as they ride by ..defying traffic laws ..that’s why Diane won’t drive here anymore ..she says they do that to cash in on insurance claims. I don’t think they’re looking that far ahead. On campus, bicycles have the right-of-way ..out here, traffic signs don’t register ..there is no borderline ..they’re probably unaware they left school grounds. It’s a ‘beachy’ college town. Chris surfs the point in the morning, then leans his board against the cliffs, puts on a pair of Tevas and walks to class ..he’s back in the water before noon. Students with sandy feet cluster around computer screens in the library ..some are playing galactic conquest ..others are downloading articles from scientific journals. I can usually count on seeing Joseph here ..he lives on the beach but drops-in on classes in the religious studies department. He tells me that they’ve released a new volume of letters by Thomas Merton. His beard is neatly trimmed and his clothes are always clean.
7 comments:
i love how different the culture is out there.
sounds beautiful. and i'm jealous.
i found out yesterday afternoon that i will be a live-in. It's logical. Can't sign a lease until a certain age, i have no credit, and if i'm in a strange place I won't find the safest place or even know the area.
it makes sense, it's the wisest decision but i still wish i could be a live-out
Oh, how I miss California. You do such an excellent job of describing your part of the world.
Elise ~ check it out ..the guest homes of the rich can be very nice .. :)
Little things ~ thank you, although I sometimes wonder if it isn’t just my own biased and self-serving observations of this part of the world
Thanks for leading me here. As always, I am envious of your part of the world... must be soooo incredibly awesome! Too bad the rest of the world can't be so laid back. Youth!... ahhhh... aren't they awesome, the youth? I love their energy, yes.
... and Joseph... interesting...
How well I remember,you took me right in to it,There is nothing like Isla Vista,no-where in the world,because that a world of it's own.
I lived in California al My life, mostly in couthern Cal. In a small town called Claremont, it'a hight class college town, and very beautiful by Mt. Baldy
If you see my friend Vinod Janghiani, say hi from Eduardo.
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