Tag Archives: Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay

A Kinder, Gentler Tsunami

No, we’re not completely nuts.

And yes, we did go down to our beach on Friday’s glorious spring morning in the company of about fifteen of our neighbors to watch the tsunami surges come in.

In defense of our decision to head towards the water when there was a tsunami warning for our area, please note: the warning was for a 3-4 foot wave during the low of low tide, and we were standing on a cliff 50 feet above the beach where the crows fly at eye level. Plus, it was a beautiful day, and Hwy 92 was completely jammed with the sane people who were “heading for higher ground,” so there would be no heading over the hill any time soon anyway. (There were still cars parked at the summit when I came home from work later on, leading one to the conclusion that there are some VERY nervous people out there.)

In addition, this was our second “potential tsunami with lots of warning” experience in just over a year, so I suppose we were a little more seasoned and calmer about the whole thing.

After all, we walk past this sign every day. It points to our house on the hill.

As the surge started, the water receded farther than we had ever seen it before at any low tide.

Within about three minutes, it had pushed into a decent high tide. We shot some video of one of the surges.

We’ve seen some pretty spectacular water down there in the past year.

But this, while not overly dramatic from an “Oh My! Look at those waves!” kind of way, was amazing to watch. The water just keep coming in, uncoupled from the usual “sets of seven” wave behavior. These weren’t merely waves: this was a tsunami.

We were watching incredibly pure, powerful and beautiful liquid energy pulsing across the empty, broad, beach.

This sand is accustomed to the pounding surge, and no one here was going to get hurt, which made our experience merely benignly fascinating. This, in stark contrast to the videos we watched of the horrific Sendai experience as it unfolded, made our privileged perch that much more profound and sobering.

Why do some people get to live in peace and safety while others don’t?

Cinderella’s Wedding Train

To tell you the truth, I was a little cranky and not entirely in the mood. We’d spent the day doing our taxes and moving furniture and looking at photos of when we were thinner.

But you never know what you’ll encounter on “The Path,” so when you head out for the daily constitutional, no matter your head space, you just schlep the camera and stomp along.

Plus, what are you going to do when you see an entire wedding train full of happy celebrants bearing down on you at 14 mph in golf carts?

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You hunker down on the curb and start taking pictures, that’s what you do.

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This bodes well for them, don’t you think? Honestly, they both looked like they were having a blast.

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Plus, they were surrounded by exuberant friends driving vehicles called “E-Z-Go.” That has to be a good sign.

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They were wavers. And smilers.

Also good.

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It wasn’t until they landed at the beach stairs, though, that we realized we were privileged to have accidentally shown up at Cinderalla’s ACTUAL wedding.

We saw the whole shoe thing go down.

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The exchange was swift and discreet.

And may I just say… that dress?

Dang.

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The other lesser accessories appeared according to custom…

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… and I’m betting when asked which one she wanted, the response was, “His.”

Or not. Maybe she”s a much sweeter little girl than I ever was.

Let’s go with that. She said, “Pink, please.”

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I loved the 6 minutes we were part of this wedding party.

There was an attention to details that leaned towards “We care about the event,” but…

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… there was a pragmatic and unfussy approach to the footwear involved.

You know our sentiment about fussy footwear. In the words of our friend Dushka, “I love gorgeous heels, but I love my feet more.”

So totally Cinderalla-ish….

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The party migrated happily down the stairs, and it felt unseemly to traipse down after them, so we blessed them and quietly said “Fare well.”

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But about those glass slippers left at the top of the stairs? So many stories, so little time…

We didn’t want to interrupt to exchange contact information, but Cinderella and Prince C.? If you would like high resolution versions of these photos, please contact us (rickandkathyjamison@gmail.com) and we’ll be happy to send them along, without charge. Ha! It’s our little way of disrupting the universe with random acts of kindness.

If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends! Click the “Share It” button just below, select your social media community of choice… and… doink! You’re the instant sharer of enjoyable stuff. People like that.

The Real After Shock? No Tsunami in Half Moon Bay

Well, one out of three isn’t so bad.

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Of my three predictions yesterday, only the final one came true: Rick and I now have an additional 317 fabulous wave photos in our archives.

We’re gonna need another external hard drive.

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There was plenty of drama, but it was more of the “sun streaming through the clouds on breath-taking back-lit scenery” than the “tragedy at sea” type.

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There were lots of people down at the coast, many choosing a safe perch from which to peer into the horizon for signs of the monster waves. The front yard of the Ritz Carlton is about 75 feet straight up from the beach.

It could be anywhere from 40 to 100 feet of cliff. I’m bad at guesstimating that kind of thing. But it’s up there.

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See? Safe.

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Some settled for the mid-span viewing zone. Adventurous, yes, but still within the “not likely to need an at-sea rescue” margin of sanity.

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Others? Not so careful.

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Of course, if you’ve traveled all the way from South Carolina and never had a toe in the Pacific ocean before and this was your only window, and you were only going to be down there for five minutes…

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… well, there are always a thousand stories beyond the yellow tape.

P.S. This morning, March 1, there are reports of devastating tsunami damage and loss of life along the coast of Chile. Our hearts go out to all who are suffering as a result.