Black Friday by the Sea

"I feel most at home out along the Ocean's edge, where land meets sea. It is here along these rocky, life filled pools, giant kelp forests, and flat rock fishing holes that life reaches into me with a soothing calm." - Jesse Lee Longacre

Many years ago, back in the early 2000s, the Geek enjoyed a good Black Friday shopping. He would get up before the crack of dawn and stand in line to get some pretty good deals (at that times you would actually still get good deals). After a few hours he would return home to have a long and lazy breakfast with Kaefer and me - and entertain us with the funniest stories about the things he had experienced while standing in line. But after a few years the appeal had vanished and Black Friday shopping stopped in the Bartz household. Instead, we stayed at home and spent a wonderfully lazy day, playing games, putting up the Christmas lights on the house and eating too many cookies. A couple years later, REI introduced the #optoutside Black Friday with their own stores closed so that their employees could enjoy the great outdoors. We enthusiastically embraced it and since then, we have spent Black Friday far away from any shopping and any laziness.

This year was no exception. The weather was gorgeous and we decided to go to the ocean and spend the day in Salt Point State Park. This state park has been on our list for quite a while and I honestly don't know why we didn't go there sooner. It is a gem.

Salt Point has a very rough and wild shoreline. It is named for the cliffs and crevices where salt from ocean water crystallizes in sandstone depressions. The Native Kashia Pomo gathered salt here for centuries. One of the most unusual and beautiful features of the sandstone along these sea cliffs is the honeycomb-like network called tafoni.

The waves and salt spray leave salt crystals which interact with the sandstone, causing some portions to be hardened, while others are loosened. This creates the lacy, box-like pattern. There were many to find here.

How can you not love this texture on the sandstone? It is simply amazing.

We were constantly putting up our cameras, taking pictures. If it wasn't the tafoni, it was the "lovely rough" sea that captured us with its tall waves - some of them were a good ten feet tall and arrived in the typical "sleeper wave" pattern (a series of very powerful waves followed by a smooth sea followed by very powerful waves etc.). The constant noise from the crashing onto the shore sometimes was so loud that we had to shout to each other.

Beside the tafoni, I was fascinated by the entire geology of this place. Rock surfaces were different, some smooth, some rough. Some reminded me of the slick rock in places like Canyonlands or Arches National Parks. Water pooling in depressions washed out the sandstone even further. There were different colored layers of rock and I repeatedly wished that I knew more about geology. A geologist would have a hayday at this shoreline.

A sea urchin had become lunch for a passing sea gull.

A tide pool served as a mirror for the clouds in the sky.

Sometime during the day I came upon this sign that inspired the quote at the top of this post.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about Jesse Lee Longacre except that he was only 41 years old when he died. Maybe he was a tribe member of the Kashia Pomo. His words truly spoke to me.

I was happy to see a few birds - right when we started out I saw a hawk disappearing in the forest beyond the shore and a kite hovering over the cove. I thought I had taken a photo of the kite, but I can't find it anymore. It's a mystery.

But there was this sweet little sparrow that came to rest on this beautiful rock cairn.

A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flew by and landed a bit further down the way. What a graceful guy he is.

Before I saw the Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) I had heard them and was looking for them. They were darting up and down among the rocks, probably looking for mollusks.

Nature is just the greatest and most accomplished artist. That's why this shoreline is my contribution to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date this week. What did we have for dinner on this wonderful day? Well, we drove a bit further up North to Gualala and had lunner at the Seafood Shack - clam chowder, local rock fish and chips accompanied by a bottle of local beer.

On our way back home we witnessed a beautiful sunset over the ocean. We made it just in time to a parking spot next to Highway 1 - weren't we lucky that there was some pampas grass growing (non-native and invasive, but beautiful) along the road that made a splendid foreground?

 

The BIG Shopping Weekend

When we first moved to the United States I found it a bit bizarre that right after the day everybody said how grateful they were for what they had, the very same people would get up at the crack of dawn and rush to the stores to get the best deals EVER. Some even camped outside stores like Best Buy to be the first in line and not miss out.

Looking back, I just sigh - ah, those were the good old times. The Geek belonged to those people who got up early on Black Friday and stood in line while Kaefer and I briefly groaned, turned around and went back to sleep. When the Geek came back for a late breakfast he usually had some hilarious stories to tell. The rest of Friday was spent in quiet bliss.

After a few years the temptation had died even for the Geek and we spent Black Friday in our home, blissfully unaware of the craziness going on in the malls and big stores.

Christmas items

And today? The shopping frenzy starts already on Thanksgiving itself. Some stores are open all day Thanksgiving, some open right at the time when you would sit down for the meal with your family and/or friends. Some stores stay open until 2:00 am or even the entire night. Other stores open at midnight. The "reasonable" stores open at 6:00 on Black Friday morning.

Are we really that greedy? Is it really more important to get a super deal than spend some time with family? Is it necessary to drag retail employees away from their families to serve the customers who obviously can't wait to be dragged away from family and friends?

I don't have the answer to that. However, I refuse to go shopping on Thanksgiving. Somehow I hope that so many others think like me, stay at home and the Thanksgiving shopping will be only a short-lived "event". Well, I am not that naive.... I know it will stay like this, perhaps even get worse. Who knows, one day we might stop celebrating Thanksgiving altogether. A huge loss for saving a few bucks.

photo cards

After Black Friday and before Cyber Monday there is another shopping day - Small Business Saturday. Being a small business owner myself, I hardly can ignore that. I just wish it was on a different weekend - does it really make a difference? Do people who spend their money on Thanksgiving and Black Friday have the time (and the energy) to go and support the local businesses in their neighborhood? Or small businesses online - where their neighbors, friends, teachers, colleagues sell their items? And - can small businesses even compete?

All of these thoughts were going through my mind when I was contemplating what to do with my Etsy shop over this sales weekend. Should I participate? Should I ignore it and just go on as usual? Would that even be sound business practice?

altered journals and mixed media paintings

In the end, I have decided to offer 25% off the entire purchase in my store. After all, I have my shop and I want to sell my handmade items. Handmade is not cheap, and I am not planning on selling anything below its value. But I can say thanks to my customers by lowering my prices for a few days and thus giving them the opportunity to buy something that is real handmade (and heart-made for that matter) in a very affordable way. These images here show a few of the items that are currently available in my shop - it is pretty well stocked right now. By using coupon code THANKS2013 (all capitals) during checkout you will automatically get 25% off your entire purchase - whether you buy one handmade card or three journals. The sale expires at the end of Cyber Monday, December 2, 2013.