One of the oddest places in California (and that is saying a lot…) has to be Bombay Beach. So it feels fitting to end the weird year of 2021 with this post. Maybe we’re all living in different versions of Bombay Beach in a matrix run by robot overlords or we’re all just characters in a video game (go see Free Guy if you haven’t yet, it’s hilarious)…
On the sand between the last road in Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea is a wide open expanse where people have felt called to create different kinds of art installations. Weird? Yes. Cool? Definitely yes. This was my favorite. Depending on how you moved around the outside of the cube, your perspective on the things beyond it changed in really interesting ways. Kind of like being stoned only without the actual drugs being involved.
This wreck of a ship, created out of driftwood and old lumber pieces, was an amazingly beautiful thing. Mired in sand, yet so close to the water, it’s a statement of I’m not sure what, but it was definitely one of my favorite pieces. It also made me think of my friend Ed up in Maine, who collects old skiffs and such in his backyard and might debate collecting this one too if it wasn’t all the way across the country.
Just the other side of that road was an abandoned something. The only clearly recognizable thing was the blue porta-john. The rest? No clue. But I liked it as a metaphor for all the things that have been going on the last few years.
And if that metaphor wasn’t enough, this container, graffitied out to the max, had the last word on 2021. I’m sore, too, from dissension, divisions, debates about science vs. scammers, and… well, all of it. Except for Utah and the North Rim. And Lake Michigan and the South Carolina beaches. And the friends and family that got me through the year mostly intact.
Here’s hoping 2022 will bring sanity back in focus, science will win the day, and people will be kinder to each other.
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
T. S. Eliot
Well said and so right on it. Your writing entwined with your photos is always a wonder.
Thank you for sharing and
Happy(ier) 2022!
Thanks, Judy, and happy new year to you and Joanne! Seeing y’all was definitely a highlight of my 2021.
Happy New Year, Annie! Your writing keeps us inspired and grateful for your talents.
I love seeing your Burning Man pics when you go. The art there is so amazing, so creative. Someday, come down to Bombay Beach and also East Jesus (just a short drive away) and check out the art installations at both places. I love the funkiness of both of them. And happy new year!
Thanks, Annie! Happy New Year!
These images and your experience with them is precisely one of my favorite reasons I return to Burning Man. I <3 visual art. Wish I was better at it. HNY!
Love the first shot here. I immediately thought of the human experience, you can see what is directly in front of you yet not clearly understand what is around you. Amen for 2022!
That’s a great shot, both for the fun of it and as a reminder of how things were just 2 short years ago. (The link made it, I don’t think photos are allowed in comments, and I don’t know why…)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1oduZSDrUaCWQ28o6
Don’t know if this will come through, but here’s my favorite photo from that area. January, 2020 before we knew not to pile in a car together.
What a lovely, encouraging post Annie! May your, and all of our 2022 experiences help us grow into a more compassionate, stronger community.