First stop on the first morning of our first day in San Diego: a coffee shop.
My daughters, like the nice, normal people that they are, love to start their day with a cup of java and a bite to eat, so off we go to the charming Communal Coffee in the North Park neighborhood for a yummy and gorgeous breakfast. Sadly, I am not a coffee drinker and prefer to wait till after noon for the first meal of my day. But this is vacation and I have no desire to be a party pooper so I suck it up and order myself a perfectly lovely pesto heirloom tomato sandwich.
Number of photos I take at breakfast: zero.
As we sip and sup on the sunny outdoor patio, we notice that right next door - within an arm's reach, actually - lives an adorable nursery. A plan is quickly made to wander through the plants after breakfast, and in my excitement, I gulp down the rest of my sandwich as fast as I can.
Number of photos I take at the nursery: 35.
Here are a few of my favorites:
^ This pallet garden looks like the ones I have at home, but is cleverly engineered to hold the plants much more securely than mine does. I'm suddenly on a mission to reconfigure mine - perhaps in a double tall style like this one? - and take a number of photos for future reference.
^ As I breathe in the zen of this lovely moment, I feel some deja vu creep in. Last year, we used cedar planks from our old fence to build planting beds on wheels; this design is very similar to ours, with the addition of the trim pieces running horizontally along the top and bottom. Not sure if I will add that detail to ours, but I definitely want to remember this construction as well as the peaceful moment.
^ Shade sails. For at least ten years, I've dreamed of adding some to my backyard; I love how they filter the sun, fill the space overhead with delightful geometry, all while making me feel like I'm zipping across a lake on a sailboat. I've come close to pulling the trigger but you know what stops me? Sunshine is so precious in the PNW that the idea of actually blocking out even a single ray of the golden delight seems like sacrilege. Guess I will ponder this idea a little longer.
^ I'll be honest: bougainvillea makes my heart beat fast and my eyes spin in circles. Seriously, there is a part of me that wants to lie down and cry whenever I see these gorgeous explosions of color and realize that they just won't grow where I live. But my green front door is so close in color to this green door and those blazing orangey-pinky-scarlet tones look so perfect in contrast that I instantly begin to scheme ways to bring a similar riot of complementary color to my own front porch.
* * * * *
We return to the car, fiddle with the GPS, and launch off in pursuit of our first full-fledged adventure, ready to see what fair San Diego can offer us. But I've already settled on one inescapable truth.
Coffee and tea may not be for me, but plants always set my mind on fire.
* * * * *
Come celebrate San Diego with me and my daughters as
we break out into our first post-Covid road trip!
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