Summer began around July 3rd this year, meaning that’s when the sun came out and stayed out. Well, until lately – after three weeks of summer, now it’s fall (hopefully not for good!). But that’s how it goes here on Orcas. Before July, sun and rain are intermittent, and that’s when the Jack Johnson and Michael Franti are playing nonstop in our kitchen, as I wash dishes and dream of full-on, motivating sunshine.
Jack Johnson and I went to UCSB at the same time. I didn’t know it then, but hearing his songs now brings me right back into the always-sunshine beach mentality that was my life for decades before moving here – sand, flip flops, shorts, swimsuits, sunsets, and waves 365 days a year.
As we wait for the sun here in March, April, May, and June, I smile when I hear the lyrics he sings in “Bubble Toes,”
“I was eatin’ lunch at the DLG when this little girl came and she sat next to me…”
Do you know that line? The DLG is referring to UCSB’s De La Guerra dining hall. I ate several buildings over in the San Rafael dining hall. What a fun life that campus was.
Here’s another line in the song referring to Santa Barbara beaches:
“…her feet are all covered with tar balls…”
Anyone who has ever walked on a Santa Barbara beach knows they will need some baby oil to wipe the tar off their feet. There are over a dozen oil rigs out in the ocean along the coast there.
Michael Franti has become a heavy new part of my musical repertoire because when the sun hasn’t fully come out, his positive, upbeat songs instantly transport my mind to California and Hawaii.
A college friend of mine just went on the vacation of a lifetime with her sister in Bali to Michael Franti’s SoulRocker Retreat – an all-inclusive experience that includes amazing accommodations, food, spa treatments, and musical time with Michael Franti and his family.
Now he even has SoulShine at Sea, cruises you can book that include performances by him. What a blast those must be!
After Jack and Michael keep me going through the rainy months and the sun decides to stay, that’s when my lake swimming and paddleboarding begin. This summer I have swum across Cascade Lake almost every day – the water is just stunning, clear, and refreshing.
This summer has also been particularly special out in the sea. I like to paddleboard past Eastsound and Cascade Lake while listening to Lex Fridman’s podcast interviews of fascinating people, something my brother got me hooked on again. The latest ones I’ve heard have been Charan Ranganath on memory…
Elon Musk on, well, everything…
Walter Isaacson on Elon Musk…
And Annie Jacobsen on nuclear war…
I highly recommend Lex’s interviews. I like to tie up to a random buoy in the Sound, lie flat on my board, close my eyes for a nice long time, and enjoy the rhythmic, womblike undulations of the water while getting an education on any number of topics. It’s bliss. Well, it’s a little lonely too. I’m adjusting to having two teenagers who now have full lives year-round and are rarely ever around for the companionship I grew so accustomed to over the years. Moms have to grow right alongside their children.
There’s nothing like being reminded by someone like Annie Jacobsen of how potentially fragile life is while paddling past one fried egg jellyfish after another (I think that is what these are), gazing down at their taut 50-foot tendrils that eventually disappear deep in the depths. Sometimes your best days happen thanks to reminders that the present moment is the biggest gift in life, whether you’re surrounded by people or alone, listening to them through an iPhone.
It’s no surprise I’m writing today, as the cloud cover and cool breeze have caused me to swap my paddleboard for my laptop. Perhaps you, too, will enjoy a little Jack Johnson, Michael Franti, and Lex Fridman until you’re out swimming and paddling with the jellyfish on the next endless-sun day – and may there be many more! Who knows up here in the tippity top of the Northwest.
See ya halfway across Cascade Lake…
Edee, I was just listening to Lex today! His interview with Annie Jacobsen about Nuclear War and more is worth a listen