Santa Barbara

All Poems, Beaches, Farewell, Natural Beauty, Pleasure, Santa Barbara, Trips and Places

Two Beaches and Farewell to Santa Barbara

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What would you do on your last day in a coastal beach city?

Take a boat ride?

Explore underwater flora, fauna?

Ride the waves?

All good choices.

For me, it’s enough to walk paths along the beach.

At Chase Palm Park.

Watch pelicans, plovers, godwits romp.

In tide pools the size of lakes.

Memorize the hedges, natal plums and sour figs.

Palms, agaves, aloe veras.

Mountains ringing the shore.

Sailboats on the water.

Take off shoes to glide through sand.

Close to beating surf.

Listen to shrieking gulls.

Past landmarks like the white tree trunk.

Aground upon the sand.

Glaring at you with iron eyes.

Ready to spew fiery dragon breath.

Then drive to Montecito in the afternoon.

Where lush borders of red bougainvilleas line the street.

Across from Butterfly Beach.

A staircase down.

To a private paradise.

Lined with rocks and boulders.

Named for monarch butterflies.

That swarmed in native grasses.

For me, nothing more ideal

than two beach walks in a day.

To bid farewell to Santa Barbara.

Tears mixed with ocean spray.

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 24, 2023

All Poems, Animals/Insects, Environment/Mother Earth, For Children, Santa Barbara, Trips and Places

Berm

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Just past the pier in Santa Barbara were a dozen trucks.

Rollers, diggers, sand rakes.

Working like beavers to build a berm.

A berm? you ask.

A giant mound of sand and stones.

To protect tidewaters from the sea.

Little lakes where coastal birds swim.

Nest, socialize, feed with neighbors.

Live a simple life.

Mother Earth must be proud

of humans with machines.

Not tearing down, but building up.

Guarding avian routines.

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 24, 2023

 

All Poems, Family, Food, Humor, Santa Barbara, Spouses, Trips and Places

Bob Eats Shrimp Fajitas

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Bob and I visited Santa Barbara for the first time.

Three years ago.

Dining at Carlitos on State Street.

He wanted fajitas.

I urged him to choose another dish.

That is, if he wanted to share with me.

Neither of us remembers the meal he chose.

But, for three years, he regretted not trying fajitas.

A small regret that lingered.

Somewhere deep in his gut.

So, tonight we returned to Carlitos.

Where he ordered what he missed, longed for.

Shrimp, peppers, onions on a steaming platter.

Guacamole, sour cream, salsa.

With two wheat and two corn tortillas.

He, a picture of satisfaction.

Savoring the fare he’d given up.

But not forgotten.

It lived up to its billing.

To his fantasy.

Spell finally broken.

He, forever free!

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 23, 2023

 

Another moral of the story:

Respect your mate’s food decision.

Or resentment will lurk unseen

in silent cracks quite hidden.

All Poems, Animals/Insects, For Children, Gardens, Natural Beauty, Santa Barbara, Trips and Places

Santa Barbara is Seductive

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Santa Barbara is seductive.

Even when clouds stamp out sun.

Cool winds rile trees.

Loosen dried palm fronds.

Landing on streets, sidewalks.

Sending us indoors for rain hats, umbrellas.

So we can continue wandering.

Along piers, through gardens.

Like the Alice Keck Park botanical collection.

A city block full of exotic trees.

A sensory garden, ponds.

Specialized area for low water plants.

All glistening in the drizzle.

Not bothering feathered friends at all.

A hundred ducks skimming the water.

Orange blossoms hanging like a muff.

On a palm tree trunk.

Silk floss, in full pink flower.

Dropping petals with each breeze.

Hummingbirds playing games.

Zooming from silk floss tree to climbing aloe.

Up, down, sideways, hovering, landing.

Vibrating tiny wings, pulsing past.

Keeping me captive for long minutes.

Staring at their antics.

Wishing I could join in.

I’d jump and hop and spin!

Bid them, call me Lynn!

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 22, 2023

 

 

 

All Poems, Gardens, Santa Barbara, Trips and Places

Botanic Garden of Santa Barbara

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The Botanic Garden of Santa Barbara sits on seventy-eight acres.

Invites visitors along pathways to view local vegetation.

Only plants that survive dry summers, mild moist winters.

Evolving to live here.

Along with organisms that depend on them.

A life sustaining system.

From desert to meadow.

Redwoods to oaks.

Biodiversity in ponds, streams.

Pollinator gardens, views of Channel Islands.

Even a backcountry section to inspire children.

Mother Earth must be in her glory

when people preserve the native.

What was ages ago the norm

is now what’s innovative.

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 21, 2023

 

All Poems, Animals/Insects, For Children, Santa Barbara, Trips and Places

Coastal Birds

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Coastal birds in Santa Barbara are comfortable.

On  sand, rooftops, buoys, in tide pools.

They know they belong.

In tight communities.

Pelicans, seagulls, sanderlings.

Godwits, white egrets, black herons.

Even starlings, pigeons, crows.

Their neighborhoods, adjacent.

So, at times, they mingle.

Without fighting.

Merely, sunbathe, people watch, swim, seek food.

So, although the old adage, true:

Birds of a feather flock together,

they also share space with others.

Behaving better than people do.

Though diverse, avian brothers.

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 20, 2023

All Poems, For Children, Natural Beauty, Pleasure, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Trips and Places

Signs

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Have you ever stopped to read all the signs around us?

Do Not Feed the Birds or Squirrels

No Smoking

Beach Path

They clutter our streets, highways, parks, schoolyards.

Even our houses are full of signs.

Instructions to change filters, turn on appliances, set alarms.

We could fill our days with mandates and how-to’s.

Most, pragmatic or cautionary.

But, one that grabbed my eye was on a sidewalk in front of Reed Park.

In Santa Monica.

Advising: Wander Often, Wonder Always.

Two of my favorite things to do.

Doing them right now in Santa Barbara!

Wandering the harbor piers.

Wondering about silk floss trees.

How can I preserve the splendor

of lofty mountains meeting seas?

 

Lynn Benjamin

November 19, 2023