“Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for–
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world — MaryOliver
What a weekend! Walked the picturesque route to First Street and spotted five little sailboats darting about making hairpin turns as they gleefully skidded across the Marina. The yearly summer sailing lessons for kids sponsored by the Benicia Yacht Club is back. Soon these fledgling sailors will be competing in the Thursday night boat races on the Strait. The town was inundated with locals and day trippers here to attend the annual Benicia Waterfront Festival. Cars were parked for blocks around downtown as drivers crept slowly along looking for red backup lights. Music blasted both days from a big line-up of bands. Tents with arts and crafts, clothing, jewelry, food and drinks dotted the Green.
Saw a woman power walking up the Street holding a chartreuse weight in each hand. “Good idea,” I thought. “All the better to feel the burn.” Later saw her coming the other way and realized that they weren’t dumbbells but huge green tomatoes, one in each hand. “I picked them up at the Food is Free stand by Pups n Purzz,” she said. Would imagine that large zucchini would serve the same purpose.
Peeked into the grand opening of the Elevate Company, a yoga and meditation studio in the newly refurbished space on the corner of First and I. Beautifully outfitted with yoga mats, zafus, and props, yogis stood on their mats awaiting their first downward facing dog. The free yoga class was offered to showcase Elevate’s mission statement to enable —“a strong serenity and inner peace that remain stable even in the face of much adversity” The world could use a little inner peace just now. First 200 hour teacher training starts August 6.
Crossed the busy Street to order an iced earl gray tea at One House and noticed a family of leopards seated in the Bakery’s new outdoor seating. Two women were rocking leopard jumpsuits, grandmother a leopard top, and baby Olivia a tiny leopard dress with flounce and matching headband. A girl can’t have too much leopard. As famed Vogue Editor Diana Vreeland used to pronounce — “Leopard is important this season.”
Drove over to Arts Benicia’s elegant new digs at the Arsenal’s Commandant’s Quarters to take a second look at their current exhibitions — “I Figure: Contemporary Figurative Art” and Pam Dixon’s “It’s Gotta Be Fun.” Master painter and teacher Randy Sexton did an outstanding job of selecting art depicting the human form rendered in paint, sculpture, and textiles. Lisa Reinertson’s monumental kneeling woman in a fountain is breathtaking. Artist and teacher Mary Shaw hung the show allowing for plenty of open space to spotlight each piece A dramatic and moving sculpture of a seated Black woman holding a white dove — “Holding Peace” — is composed entirely of black steel coat hangers. Evany Zirul of Clovis was the creator.
Felt like a kid in a candy store upstairs in Pam Dixon’s gallery surrounded by huge pink nudes, whimsical sculptures, and playful ceramics. A carved wooden bust of Dona Benicia wears a mantilla of old banderillas with silk ribbons and was inspired by a poster she designed back in the 1970s at the old Composing Room. The “Ascension of Laine Mein” is a celebration of Pam’s dear friend, artist, editor, gallery owner, and fundraiser extraordinaire who recently passed away and depicts Laine ascending to heaven in the all together.
Over lunch at a First Street cafe, my friend told me about her latest adventure — propagating Monarch butterflies. The 292 member Monarch Milkweed Project Benicia is offering once-a-week garden tours free of charge. I hit the jackpot on my first visit. Fred, a landscaper, originally from Guadalajara, has transformed their home into a tropical paradise. To say he has a green thumb would be an understatement. Flowering vines with low-hanging fruit, trees, bushes, flowers, cacti, succulents, bromeliads outlandishly huge poinsettias, tiny tiger printed orange lanterns are artfully planted covering several levels of terraced gardens and three inviting patios. Monarchs drift through the verdant jungle. Imagined hearing “Feed me Seymour.” Go to Nextdoor Benicia for a schedule and how to start your own Monarch habitat.
Was sorry to miss the reading at the Library of educator, columnist, writer, party planner, film festival founder and volunteer extraordinare Carolyn Plath’s memoir “Glenn’s Sister” which was published posthumously by Benicia Literary Arts. Carolyn wrote the memoir honoring her brother’s tragic, short life with compassion, insight and humor. Each chapter was critiqued by BLA’s memoir writing group over a period of several years prior to publication. Available at Bookshop Benicia and at benicialiteraryarts.org.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver
Sarah Beserra is an artist, collector, Dharma practitioner and former lobbyist.
Letters From Benicia 