January 1: 05F-1
The first year I lived in Los Angeles I was quite enamored of the weather. I liked running around in shirtsleeves. So, on January 1, 1985, I celebrated my liberation from winter by walking across Griffith Park. The next year I did the same. In other years I hiked in other places, but on January 1, 1996 I started a new tradition.
I'm not much for tradition. Put that stuff behind and go on to new things, but some traditions are nice. I like this one. Go to the beach and start the year with one of my favorite activities.
Historical note: (added 2016 January 14)
I was extremely tired after this one. Just barely managing to stay upright on my bicycle, pulling the trailer loaded with sand sculpture equipment. At Rose Avenue I make a transition from the bike path to the parking lot, and have to thread my way between two steel posts with about six inches to spare. This time I felt a thump as I went through, but didn't think anything about it. Someone started yelling, but that's always happening in Venice so I just kept turning the pedals.
After I got home I discovered what the yelling had been about: that "thump" was the sound of the sand cart's wooden axle hitting a steel post, and the yelling was someone trying to tell me I'd left the cart's wheel behind. I went back to look for it, and found that the person had chased me across the parking lot, finally giving up at the Rose Avenue entrance. The wheel was lying there in the divider. Thank you, whoever you are... I'm sorry I was too out of it to care.
I built the cart from materials on hand, except for the wheels. The original axle was carved out of a piece of oak. The weekend following this sculpture was rainy so I worked on repairs. The wooden axle had expanded and was impossible to remove from the wheel, so I used one of the spare wheels. I'd already bought a length of aluminum tubing for a new axle, and had a 1" spade drill bit for wood. I made two axle mounts from oak, and attached them to an aluminum base plate that had started life as a blanking panel for a multiplexer at work. The new axle passed through the blocks, with spacers to keep the wheels from rubbing on the cart body. I used the same retention pins and collars that had been on the wooden axle. The whole assembly was attached to the cart with long stainless steel screws and bolts, and completed January 10.
On February 6 I used the rebuilt cart for the first time. I intended to make a sculpture, walking to the beach with a minimal kit loaded into the cart, but rain came up and dissuaded me.
I'm not much for tradition. Put that stuff behind and go on to new things, but some traditions are nice. I like this one. Go to the beach and start the year with one of my favorite activities.
Historical note: (added 2016 January 14)
I was extremely tired after this one. Just barely managing to stay upright on my bicycle, pulling the trailer loaded with sand sculpture equipment. At Rose Avenue I make a transition from the bike path to the parking lot, and have to thread my way between two steel posts with about six inches to spare. This time I felt a thump as I went through, but didn't think anything about it. Someone started yelling, but that's always happening in Venice so I just kept turning the pedals.
After I got home I discovered what the yelling had been about: that "thump" was the sound of the sand cart's wooden axle hitting a steel post, and the yelling was someone trying to tell me I'd left the cart's wheel behind. I went back to look for it, and found that the person had chased me across the parking lot, finally giving up at the Rose Avenue entrance. The wheel was lying there in the divider. Thank you, whoever you are... I'm sorry I was too out of it to care.
I built the cart from materials on hand, except for the wheels. The original axle was carved out of a piece of oak. The weekend following this sculpture was rainy so I worked on repairs. The wooden axle had expanded and was impossible to remove from the wheel, so I used one of the spare wheels. I'd already bought a length of aluminum tubing for a new axle, and had a 1" spade drill bit for wood. I made two axle mounts from oak, and attached them to an aluminum base plate that had started life as a blanking panel for a multiplexer at work. The new axle passed through the blocks, with spacers to keep the wheels from rubbing on the cart body. I used the same retention pins and collars that had been on the wooden axle. The whole assembly was attached to the cart with long stainless steel screws and bolts, and completed January 10.
On February 6 I used the rebuilt cart for the first time. I intended to make a sculpture, walking to the beach with a minimal kit loaded into the cart, but rain came up and dissuaded me.
# © 2005 by Larry @ 
