Thursday, November 24, 2005

Why Do People Do This?

After last winter's record rainfall here in California, lots of wood and other flotsam has washed out of the hills and into the ocean and wound up on our beaches. I have been fascinated, in an anthropological sense, as to why people feel compelled to use this material to make little structures on the beach.

Like this one. Last week while returning from a client meeting in Los Angeles, I stopped at Solimar and Faria Beaches to take these pictures. Here are several more of these "hootches."


And this one was the most elaborate I saw, with an attached dry-laid stone fire pit.


This is very well done and really took several hours of work for someone. I see little impromtu buildings like these all over the beaches here.

I suppose part of the reason that these fascinate me is that I have absolutely NO compulsion to do this myself. Depending on your theory as to what determines human behavior, I either wasn't enculturated by the construction people or inherited the lazy gene. I would like to invite others opinions on what the root of this behavior pattern may be.


I will close with this beach view on a beautiful day west along The Rincon - Libby Bodio's old stomping grounds. For those of you in areas where the weather is gray and cold, enjoy, think warm, and have a nice Thanksgiving weekend.

4 comments:

Mary Strachan Scriver said...

This is an absolutely poetic post, Reid! I've made little hootches like this many times. ever since childhood. I think of them when I read about chimps making little quick nests for naps or for the night. The beach is a good place for building because the sand will take a framework of sticks pushed into it an there are lots of sticks around that are nice to handle -- smoothed and bleached. There's an element of sculpture to it, like a Butterfield horse. Then, the impulse often comes from a breeze springing up or the sun becoming too warm -- one feels the need for a bit of protection. Or maybe there are other people on the beach and you'd just as soon be private for talking or smooching. Or maybe you've got a little fire going and you're eating -- taking nice things out of a basket to roast on sticks. One wants to create a little booth -- like Succoth.

In a way it's a version of the cairn: a thing to do in a broad space where one can see far and wants to stay, but feels a bit restless. There's a story to building like this -- a little construction narrative.

Prairie Mary

Mary Strachan Scriver said...

This is an absolutely poetic post, Reid! I've made little hootches like this many times. ever since childhood. I think of them when I read about chimps making little quick nests for naps or for the night. The beach is a good place for building because the sand will take a framework of sticks pushed into it an there are lots of sticks around that are nice to handle -- smoothed and bleached. There's an element of sculpture to it, like a Butterfield horse. Then, the impulse often comes from a breeze springing up or the sun becoming too warm -- one feels the need for a bit of protection. Or maybe there are other people on the beach and you'd just as soon be private for talking or smooching. Or maybe you've got a little fire going and you're eating -- taking nice things out of a basket to roast on sticks. One wants to create a little booth -- like Succoth.

In a way it's a version of the cairn: a thing to do in a broad space where one can see far and wants to stay, but feels a bit restless. There's a story to building like this -- a little construction narrative.

Prairie Mary

Reid Farmer said...

I'm glad you liked it, Mary. Frankly, your comment was MUCH better written than my post!

Mary Strachan Scriver said...

The photos are what's wonderful -- really the essence.

Sorry about the double post -- I don't know how to fix it or even what I did to create it.