WOLFFIETRACKS CHASING RAINBOWS: Experiencing San Diego

Flight pattern over hotel

Friday we had pleasant drive and border crossing with dinner in the sidewalk cafe in San Diego’s Little Italy. Yum. We had an excellent pizza, and enjoyed the people watching. We had checked into a nearby hotel. So Alma could be at the airport at 5:00am Saturday morning. San Diego Airport is right by downtown and the harbor which makes for fun walking adventures. The cruise ships also, dock there and there is an area known as Little Italy with abundance of Italian restaurants. After dinner we walked on down the street to a art gallery. There was a large portrait on the side of the building to advertise the show. I got a photo of that. What I didn’t really get was the artist’s name. The whole show was images of the young women’s face overlaid with other images. It was both beautiful as well as disturbing to see a face larger than life decorated, not like face paint or a mask, but with thematic and realistic images. In the artist statement she said her work was about her identity. She was South Korean and American. She was raised and educated in South Korea and now lived in the US. The subject of our identity is an interesting one to contemplate and is often the subject for creative self portraits. It was fun to be out on a spring evening strolling a lovely part of San Diego. It certainly gave us a feeling of well being and privilege. I know this has become a common theme in my writing, the privilege I so took for granted being an American. It is just such a contrast going from Baja to San Diego that I can’t help but feel it.

Art Exhibit we went to.

San Diego Harbor with Cruise Ship

Alma left at 4:30am and I enjoyed the leisure of no morning pet demands, so did some writing until dawn and then off to an early breakfast and another walked around Little Italy. It turned out to be a really fun morning. I started out taking photos on my way to the cafe I had spotted the night before. Then found there was a Saturday market. It was just coming to life as I got there. It opens at 8:00am So, I stroll through and chatted with people. Great fun that everyone spoke English…I forgot how much fun it is to just chat with strangers. I would have loved to buy a ton of produce to bring home, but not sure how well it would all travel across the border. I did buy a few things, a most unusual fruit called cherimoya, it’s Guatemalan name. I have since researched it and found out that it grows in tropical areas all over the world and goes by many names. The vendor has a heritage farm outside of San Diego where they grow many fruits. I had never seen cherimoya before. The vendor selling it said it sweet and tasty kind of like a banana. I figure you have to try something new every once in a while and decided I buy one. It sure doesn’t look very yummy. See photo. I read that it is also, called custard apple, which is what the texture is like, custard. It was sweet and tasty. I’m glad I tried it. Next I met a recycle artist. She makes the most interesting little planters and things from plastic bottles and tooth paste tubes. We had a nice chat. So, fun to be early at the market, people had finished set up, but not many costumers so you can have interesting conversations. Then it was down the street to the art store. What an array of things we can buy…..it is like being a kid in a candy store for me. I did get the few things I needed. There was a customer in front of me at the cash register. He was buying a ton of paint supplies. So, it was a bit of a wait. I found out he was visiting from China and felt the same way about an art store, he was purchasing supplies to bring home to his students. I didn’t ask, but wondered what will happen at customs. I think about things like that now days having to go through US and Mexican Customs so often.

Well, I am starting to feel like an artist….what fun! Life is good! Enjoy the photos and check out the ones I put on FB.