Life is a beach

NATURAL PERSPECTIVES

Jan. 1 is a good time to make resolutions to change your lives for

the better. Generally, the first column after the start of a new year

is the time to mention that, but we try to be unpredictable. We

decided to let you know how we’re doing on one of our resolutions.

Polls show that many people vow to exercise more in the upcoming

year. By February, many have already abandoned this noble goal. Not

us.

Like almost everyone else, we vowed we would get more exercise in

2003. We found a great way to do it. We resolved to bite the bullet

and fork over $125 to the city for an annual parking pass so we can

take walks on the beach. We live a mere three miles from the ocean,

yet we rarely go there. We generally prefer Central Park or the Bolsa

Chica wetlands to the beach. But exercise is exercise and the beach

is a good place to get it.

This year, we’re going to take our two-mile walks on wet sand

while enjoying the sound of crashing waves, laughing children and

barking dogs. We’re going to breathe in the seaweed-scented salt air

while watching surfers cavort on the crests of sparkling waves.

We’re going to enjoy the cry of gulls and bark of seals on foggy

mornings and watch the colorful pageantry of sunsets as they play

across wet sand at the close of day. All without fear of a parking

ticket.

The main barrier that has kept us from using the beach or going to

the Farmers Market on Friday, or enjoying Ruby’s Diner, was the

hassle of parking. We had to worry about having enough quarters to

feed the meter. We had to worry about getting back to the car before

the meter ran out. Or we would park in one of the parking garages,

then forget to get the ticket validated. What a nuisance.

A parking pass takes the hassle out of parking and removes the

risk of getting a ticket. We need to warn you that this risk has

become even more real since Ranger Dave Winkler was reassigned from

the Shipley Nature Center to beach duty. Dave now spends his days on

the beach -- not a bad life -- writing tickets to scofflaws who had

been parking for free and ignoring the meters. We ran into him down

there this morning while we were on one of our walks.

Ranger Dave has been amazingly effective. He wrote $60,000 in

tickets the first month he was on beach duty.

Those $36 parking tickets make an impression on people. Dave said

that sales of beach parking passes are up four-fold over previous

years.

Now that more beach-going regulars have passes, the volume of

parking tickets is down a bit, but Dave’s still writing about $40,000

to $45,000 worth of tickets a month. He joked that the city is

planning on balancing the budget with the revenue he brings in with

those tickets.

Our parking pass is doing its intended job of removing barriers to

our enjoyment of more of our city. We’ve been going to the beach or

Downtown nearly every day. The pass has been a great investment in

our daily exercise program, to say nothing of our goal of bringing

more peace, joy and beauty into our lives.

Watching gleeful dogs romp on dog beach between Seapoint and

Goldenwest avenues is pure pleasure. We’re noting where the good

tables are located for future picnics by the sea. We’ve parked on

Pacific Coast Highway and walked over the new pedestrian bridge to

enjoy a drink at legendary surfer Pete Mallory’s Sunset Grille at the

Hyatt. Pete’s a legend, all right.

We’re looking forward to enjoying the Downtown restaurants and

movie theaters more often and supporting organic farmers by going

more regularly to the farmer’s market. This pass is going to be a

good thing, assuming that we don’t use it merely to visit the Rocky

Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Being free of the fear of parking tickets is a good thing. Now all

we have to do is watch out for the motorcycle cop with the radar gun

on Pacific Coast Highway. No, we’re not going to tell you where he’s

stationed. The city needs the money.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.