Santa Barbara Beach Thanksgiving

After one of the smallest, most charming Thanksgivings ever at my friend Heidi's house in Santa Barbara, we went for a walk on Hendry's Beach.



It's a pretty little strand that extends below the bluffs of Hope Ranch, one of the wealthy enclaves in town.



Among other topics, Heidi and I talked about Hell, both Dante's version in The Divine Comedy, and the ten Hells of Tibetan Buddhist belief.



From her description of the Buddhist version, they sounded surprisingly similar.



There were plenty of other post-Thanksgiving walkers, and we found ourselves laughing at a group that looked so perfect and color coordinated that it was like a living Benetton ad.



The sunset had everyone whipping out their phones to take shots of the sky...



...like some Neo Sun Worship cult.



My sweet host for the weekend was 85-year-old, retired UC Santa Barbara professor Jack Murray, who gave me a personal graduate seminar on How to Age Perfectly.



The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from Santa Barbara to Ventura, with the Channel Islands looming on the horizon...



...was California at its most picture postcard.