A taste of the sweetest season in Laguna

Summer has finally shown her face. And a lovely face it is, as Laguna once again opens her arms to embrace the throngs of vacationing visitors.

Cooper, my oldest son, was in town for the weekend. It wasn’t hard for him to coax me out of my tasks and into the joys of beach walks.

Husband Steve and dog Buster joined us on Father’s Day.

Heading from the house, we strolled down Thalia Street to check the surf. Because we had the dog, we weren’t allowed to walk on the sand. Instead, we walked along Gaviota, parallel to the water, peeking over the walls at Anita and Oak Street, before settling into the new park at Brooks Street.

The amphitheater seating at the newly opened beach entrance is a great design and already well used. A small crowd of children and extended family members watched surfers jockey for position on small and infrequent waves.

Buster sat under his dad’s feet as we simply stopped “doing” and basked in the afternoon breezes. After days of fog, it was a fine feeling to have the sun on our faces.

The water was filed with an assortment of boarders — long, short, boogie and skim — mixed with swimmers. Grandfathers along with grandsons. Grommets showed off their acrobatic talents. Full wetsuits have given way to shorties as the Pacific warms, and the bravest of the brave have dumped neoprene altogether.

The shower at Brooks is a great addition. Mothers gratefully washed their little ones who splashed with delight under the spray of sand-removing water. My dog was happy to lap up a quick drink.

Saturday night, while avid Dodger fans Steve and his mother, Bessie, joined Ann McInnis and her husband, Mark Smit, for the Dodgers/Angels game, I kept an appointment at Laguna Books. Never have there been two more avid (maybe rabid) Dodger fans than Steve and his mother.

I took the opportunity to drag my yoga teacher, Cathy Cox, along with me to the author event, hosted by book store owners, the Hanauers.

Harry Brant Chandler, of Los Angeles fame, was in town to discuss his new book, “Dreamers in Dream City.”

The book explores the lives and contributions of 56 luminaries, such as Frank Gehry, Jim Morrison, Walt Disney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and our own Hobie Alter and Greg MacGillivray. The unceasing dreams of these people have shaped the core of Southern California’s culture.

Reeves Callaway, whose photo graces the cover of the book, shared the signing table with Chandler and his own story of how a second wife convinced him to move to Southern California from Connecticut.

Chandler shared a personal vignette about Hobie Alter. He had gone one summer’s day with his brother to buy a Hobie Cat from the famed inventor. Before Hobie would let him complete the purchase, the two brothers were informed that they had to go racing. To Harry’s great surprise, he was paired with famed surfer, Phil Edwards, for a day of offshore sailing in San Clemente.

His grandmother, Dorothy Chandler, was originally a Buffum (think department stores). Sourcing wealth and connections of her collected families, she was able to create the grand entertainment center in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, including the flagship symphony hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The last questions asked of Chandler were about the sale of the L.A. Times, the paper for which he was once a reporter.

He shared that he was the lone dissenter in the family’s decision to sell the paper, but sensing the eminent failing of the news business, stepping out of publishing made fiscal sense.

Did the Chandlers ever considered buying back the paper? His answer was that he felt every major city needed a major newspaper, and that with the possibility of Zell defaulting, he was involved with a group of investors who were looking at that option.

Cathy and I slipped over to Sapphire for a quick sip and bite, and as usual, enjoyed sitting under the outside umbrellas, watching the traffic and the sea. Next stop was the purelagunabeach gallery on corner of South Coast Highway and Bluebird Canyon Drive.

The gallery was hosting an opening, and along with stunning seascape work of Todd Kenyon, friend and fellow photographer Tom Lamb has hung images. Both are in the Festival of Arts, but it was nice to see the work in the gallery setting, savor the appetizers and enjoy music and camaraderie.

Laguna in the summer. Let the fun begin!

CATHARINE COOPER, writer, designer, photographer, can be reached at [email protected]