A watery roundtrip to San Diego
Ioften read about the weather, especially in the winter season when our weather is more variable. You can go weeks in July or August without checking just knowing the temps are on the rise. Granted we may get a monsoon from Arizona or Baja California in the summer, but most of the time the forecast is for hot and hotter.
Not so on the last day of January. As I drove west on I-8, the scenery looked different. There are grass, weeds and small plants growing in the usually all beige median strip. But the big change was that the mountains were invisible. Clouds obscured the mountains to the west and the Coyotes north of Ocotillo. What a change to the landscape.
The sky was beautiful and threatening, filled with clouds of various shades of gray. Driving up the Mountain Springs grade was like driving up into the clouds which were never quite reached. As I drove west, the clouds thickened and came lower to the ground. I took a photo at Buckman Springs. The gray clouds filled the valley to the west. At that point there were just a few sprinkles, and it had grown cool. But the temps weren’t low enough for snow.
The fun began once I crossed the Pine Valley bridge. The heavens opened and visibility became a problem. As I drove down from the Lagunas summit of 4,000 feet plus, the fog moved in. Dense, pea soup fog. Still, some motorists did not turn on their headlights. True, drivers shouldn’t turn on their brights, but daytime lights bring on the car’s taillights, a useful safety measure so drivers in the rear don’t run into you. Visibility was 20 yards or so.
The rain never decreased all the way into San Diego. It was pouring buckets-full. I saw two separate spun-out cars. One was facing the wrong way in the westbound lanes on I-8 near San Diego State. Too much water on the freeway, so cars were hydroplaning.
Even Trader Joe’s in Grossmont, the Valley’s Trader Joe’s, was empty. I was relieved to get to my destination. However, the weather forecast for my return on Saturday was for more soggy weather.
The purpose of the trip was to see my daughter who took me out to lunch on Friday. We ate at Crafted Greens in El Cajon. She had vegan lentil soup. Don’t worry. “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner” gourmets can get meat and chicken there as well.
My daughter also got me a complementary ticket to see “Aubergine,” (eggplant) Friday night at the San Diego Repertory Theater. It’s sort of in the basement of Horton Plaza. The actual theater, the Lyceum space, is two levels below the street.
The play is about dying, food, ethnic identity (Korean) and family. It is very good, and I recommend you see it. It plays through Feb. 17. Truth in advertising, my daughter does marketing for SD Rep.
I found SD Rep less “stuffy” than The Old Globe or the SD Symphony. While there are seniors like me, their plays attract a much younger audience, too. The Rep’s mission is to offer “intimate, exotic, provocative theatre.” I’ll weigh in on that after I’ve seen more of their productions. San Diego is rich in theaters, and that is an art form I miss living in the Valley. It takes donors to support live theater. And people who don’t need explosions and machine gun fire to keep their interest in the production.
A common practice now in American theater is to have the actors come back out on the stage once the play has ended. They answer questions offered by the audience that stays behind for this informal and personal interaction. I enjoyed hearing how the performers became involved in acting. Some by chance, others through the encouragement of their teachers in high school. It was rarely the profession they first pursued. The message is, take a risk and try out for that high school musical or drama.
I was blown back to Imperial Valley under gray clouds, rain and wind, but it was a wonderful trip.