Although I have given myself the job of Writer in Residence at the Paloma Beach Apartments, I have also included in that title permission to roam at leisure.
Up by the Chinese supermarket that sells every kind of tat imaginable, there is a costume celebration in progress. It is all about a sea goddess called Mazu. Wiki says: “She is the deified form of the purported historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. “
Here are some more pictures from today:
This is one of the walls at Paloma Beach Apartments. It is made from volcanic stones, all mortared together. The tiny holes were formed when the rock was still lava (nb. molten rock is called magma when it is underground. Once it has erupted to the surface it becomes lava). Volcanic gases trapped in the magma escape when it reaches the surface, leaving behind these sponge-looking holes called vesicles. The lava then cools quickly, hardens and forms this abrasive cindery igneous rock, which probably has a fascinating name. I think it might be Scoria. Pumice is similar but has much smaller holes and a finer texture. If the holes later fill in with assorted mineralogical crap they become “amygdales” and the resultant rock “amygdaloidal”.
This is an interesting tree root I spotted over the road from the Paloma Beach Apartments. Notice the attractively positioned black irrigation hoses at the back.
And here is the nearby row of newly built commercial properties that failed to attract tenants and were duly occupied by hippy squatters. I noticed this year (I’ve been watching for 3 years) that some of the occupants had erected fences at the entrance to their adopted homes.
Lastly, we passed this highly convincing matador-cum-waiter tempting us with tortilla and papas arrugadas.
BillyScraps 