Summer Hibernation Starts

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By: Roderick Reed
By: Roderick Reed

Enjoy what’s left of your off season routine. Last Saturday, June 21, marked the official start of summer and the arrival of tourists.

With the economy recovering, this year we can expect more people in town than ever. Additionally, Irvine has been hurriedly producing new homes with “closeness to Laguna Beach” as one of its big selling points. It will be crowded this year.

It’s not terrible. We have learned to spend our weekends on the decks and in the backyards of our friends. We have a great summertime venue for Sunday concerts in the park. It shall remain nameless to protect it. This is one of my favorite summer pastimes. Everyone in town will be there dancing, eating, sharing and listening to great music. Maybe we love Laguna because we have to break up with it for several months each year. Making our hearts grow fonder.

The horde of enthusiastic visitors does bring upbeat energy to our city. If you manage to find a place to park near the beach or downtown, stop and pause for a moment, look around. See Laguna Beach through the eyes of a sightseer you will fall in love with Laguna all over again. We know why Laguna Beach is unlike any place on earth. So do the tourists. The annual incursion makes sense. TV shows, movies and countless selfies has promoted our city madly. We need tourism, it is good for business.

We have the power to make coexisting with the frustrating crowds and going into hibernation seem more pleasurable. I suggest we embrace and greet people from out of town. Be generous with directions and recommendations. People do appreciate it and the goodwill and friendliness is usually returned. What could be better than teeming streets of friendly, tanned, beach lovers?

Joy is infectious. Being curmudgeons won’t keep people from coming. So let’s be charming and harmonize happily for a couple months. Friendliness is a two way street of course. I am reminded of a sign that hangs above the bar counter at the Saloon downtown. “Be nice, or go to Newport Beach,” it says. Don’t forget that the best weather in Laguna is in August and September after most tourists have gone. God must love us locals. We can hibernate till then.

Roderick Reed is an interior designer and artist. He lives in Laguna Beach with his wife Kathy and two sons Mason and Jack. http://roderickreed.com/

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