Sunbathers Cooked
Who could forget the Coppertone ad with the child’s dog pulling on her bathing suit? So far, two people have told me they have no recollection of such an advertisement. Two others say they have thought of nothing else since and would scold the dog, give the child a timeout for taunting the dog and then sue the company under unfair child labor laws. I tried to talk my parents out of their position. They wouldn’t budge. It ruined my sister and dog. They live in London now. There’s no need for sun tan lotion there.
I read in the Indy that two other sunbathers are now being run out of town. The two white-coated steel figures, known as “The Sunbathers,” are sculptures that reside in Nita Carmen Park since 1983. This small park sits below the high school. The man sculpture is sitting in a chair. The woman is lying down on her back. The woman was sculpted sitting up, but got beaned by a foul ball in 1993. The man sculpture doesn’t seem concerned and continues to read his paper. The man and woman appeared in Laguna for some sun and fun. There’s been plenty of one, but the other faded years ago. The sculptor, Leonard Glasser, brought these two to town on a $6,000 honorarium provided by the City Council. Everybody living here knows $6,000 will not take you far. The man and woman started their stay at Main Beach. But sculptures aren’t allowed at Main Beach under the master city plan and they relocated to Nita Carmen Park. Life was easy and free at first, but then took a turn for the worse. The sun and weather took their toll on the two and required three restorations. The total cost was $8,550. The entire cosmetic reconstruction was spent on the woman at her insistence. The man continued to read his paper.
Now the City Council voted unanimously to de-accession the installation. There wasn’t resident backlash to the vote because nobody knew what de-accession meant. The man and woman sculpture may have known what it meant, but were stoic about it. They kept their feelings to themselves.
I’ve known the couple since 2011 when I arrived for some sun and fun myself. They’re a quiet couple. But I’ve found them to be good listeners, a trait that you want in friends. I’ll cherish the time we had together. They’ll be missed.
We recently said our goodbyes. I promised them both that when the time comes for my de-accession I will have Googled it’s meaning and be ready to fight to the finish. I don’t want Laguna’s sun and fun to end.
Bring it on City Council.
The Indy reports that the City Council has tabled the Crantz de-accession vote for now and instead passed an off the leash beach police dog ordinance dubbed ‘Operation Coppertone’ to keep Crantz on his toes.
