Bubblicious Blowout

A few years ago, I helped my parents reorganize their VHS collection.  Okay, so maybe this was actually a decade ago, given that they do not have a single VCR in the house these days.  While rummaging through the likes of The Big Chill and Return of the Jedi, I came across a recordable VHS labeled “Hermosa Beach”.  Progress was of course thwarted as I insisted on taking a break to view the home video.

 Hermosa Beach, in Los Angeles County, California was the site of many childhood spring break vacations.  It was tradition for my and another family to road trip south from San Francisco in April every year.  Flanked by Redondo and Manhattan Beach, Hermosa boasts a flat, long, sandy beach, perfect for sunbathing and volleyball, and even has a swing set from which kids can launch themselves into the warm sand.  As a child I have distinct memories of pumping my legs harder and harder to reach the highest apex from which to jump from the swings.  

When I pressed play on the VCR, the screen immediately flashed to a road trip scene: my family squished in our grey Volvo station wagon.  UB40’s “All I Want To Do” blasted from the stereo and flashes of the grapevine whipped by the windows as I attempted to blow a bubble of gum about the circumference of my child-sized head.  The bubble unsurprisingly popped, spreading sticky pink gum particles all over my mouth and cheeks.  When I hear UB40, in particular their Rat in the Kitchen album, I always associate their calming reggae beats with those many, many trips to LA.  Because we always listened to their albums while on beach vacations, I now connote a calming and relaxing ambience with any environment in which I hear them played.