About two years ago my wife Rachael volunteered to be a
docent at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve located between Sunset Beach and
Huntington Beach. Separating it from
Bolsa Chica State Beach is the Pacific Coast Highway. The two Bolsa Chica's have a symbiotic relationship with plants
and animals, so what is good (or bad) for one is good (or bad) for the other.
The Amigos de Bolsa Chica, to which Rachael belongs, were
instrumental in saving the Reserve from becoming a marina back in the 1970's,
and over the years they have worked to remove the many oil wells from the
area. The preservation of the Reserve
also helped save the State Beach (formerly known as Tin Can Beach due to the
trash and oil wells), and today the beach is a clean and beautiful sandy surf
beach with many native and endangered plants.
Rachael took over the maintenance of the native plants around the
headquarters of the State Beach, and therefore I became a volunteer to do the
heavy work. I love it.
I just received status as an official State Beach volunteer
and also a free pass to all the State Beaches in Orange County. It just cost me 100 hours of free labor, a
background check, and about two or three hours of filling out forms. But now I can go to the State Beaches anytime
I wish and not have to pay the $15.00 entry fee just to go fishing.
Actually, the pass and fishing is just a bonus. In the past few months I have built
retaining walls around the headquarters, and a secure tool shed to store
gardening equipment. It was hard work,
but very satisfying. About 50 years ago
I walked away from a budding career as a brick mason, and I never looked back,
but building the retaining walls brought back many memories (and sore muscles),
and I'm glad I had the knowledge to do the work.
Volunteering my time, knowledge, and abilities is a joy I
never expected. I was cleaning up some
sand from a sidewalk and overheard some surfer dudes commenting on the
retaining walls I had built. Basically
they thought is was about time someone got off their ass and did something
around there. I laughed out loud as I
thought about that. They could have
gotten off their asses (or surfboards) anytime and helped out, but they
didn't. I guess I don't really care
whether or not they choose to help.
What I care about is whether or not someone appreciates the end results
of my labor.
Each time I go to the beach now I overhear someone comment
about the improvements. My part is just
a small piece of the action. Now school
groups are asking if they can help out.
Corporations are asking if they can donate to the process. Wow.
As I write this El Nino is bringing its heavy rains to the
area, and I just returned from examining the new retaining walls. They are working as I had hoped they would, and
I actually got to see them in action.
My work isn't complete, but I'm on the right track. The only problem is the cost of the
materials and the laborers. There is
only one of me, and the school participants don't have enough of life's
experiences to be of much help without a lot, a lot, of direction. Not that I mind giving them direction and
instructions that will help them grow as individuals, but the progress on the
walls is slow as a result. Still, this
is a project that will take years beyond my own lifetime to complete. I just hope someone will come along with
similar vision to improve the state beach and pick up the torch.