Beachtowns have their own glamour and ritz – not a typical glamour by any means, but this sort of weird, invented, pseudo-natural glamour. Santa Cruz is, hands down, my favorite beachtown. It is the beachtown of the weird, of the hippies, of the misfits, of the au naturale-organic-vegan-hipster figures, of the individuals who do not fit into any category and of the individuals who fit into every category.

Having realized last year that Santa Cruz is less than half an hour from our house, my family began frequenting the Santa Cruz farmer’s markets on Wednesdays, where both the freshest produce … and people… abound. And having come summertime (add to that my being a total and complete bum), I’ve been able to join in on these habitual excursions. It’s such a glorious people-watching experience, and I always always always see people who would photograph so beautifully. Only, I don’t want to come off as a creeper, so it’s relatively hard to sneak a good shot of these people, even when I am just dying to capture a glimpse of their uniqueness or personality or whatnot. And unfortunately, I do not have the courage to ask them directly if I can take a picture. That would be a bit weird, wouldn’t it? I always try to place myself in another person’s shoes and see if I would agree to having my picture taken by a complete stranger … I don’t know … Anyway, a lot of good photographic opportunities are thus wasted away, but here follows a brief and fortuitous account of one afternoon in Santa Cruz.

We start off with your typical trio of Santa Cruz barefoot buskers.

And we move onto an array of summer squash in varying verdant hues, accented by some purple radishes on the left and of course my favorite color yellow.

A girl in a trucker hat, nautically striped tank top, adorned with a chain belt and carrying an allegedly eco-friendly Whole Foods bag, browses the summer variety of veggies like some kind of scholar searching through a dictionary.

Oh you could be a younger, scrawnier, more bohemian Jude Law for all I know! Turn around and reveal your face!

Oh you tattooed flower girl, of ye swirling serpents tied together in infinity emblazoned across your chest, of yonder sleeves of portraiture and incongruous design – so antithetical to thine offered flowers, which declare their hue and motley vibrance…

A capture, by chance, of a bi-torso of a poncho-ed minstrel, strumming about beneath a clear blue sky…

My dear mother, buying a large golden grapefruit, which I later quartered and consumed over the course of four consecutive mornings. The skin of this fruit is about an inch thick – foamy, white, and soft – would make for quite a pillow if stacked together in bunches.

Picking and choosing which sunflower is the sunniest.

A newsboy cap and sunflower in backpack – very well-equipped. And i spy a lotus tattoo peering out of a jersey red shirt of similar color.

Spotted again, Poncho Minstrel! In front of a peachy tablecloth, sampling a variety of flavorful almonds, of which include Orange Honey (in my opinion, the best), Raspberry Honey, Cinnamon (also very good), Wasabi, Roasted, Sprouted Lemon, Sprouted with Soy Sauce, Plain Sprouted, etc. etc.

Ooh.. exciting – a fine sampling of the Santa Cruz population. Here to our left we have a tanned, beachy blonde with an orange tank that quite complements her skin tone. A bamboo graphic print on a white beach tote adds a subtly earthy note. Moving to our right, we have another tanned, beachy lady, perhaps a surfing afficionado, fresh from the beach, or else just trying to even out tan lines (though I do not spot any visible ones) – in bikini and board shorts, accompanied by a polka-dot-dressed youngster. And moving right along, we interrupt a conversation between an elderly bearded man in a rugged hat and camo trousers – perhaps of the hobo variety, or perhaps not – conversing with what seems to be a nearly-there transvestite (though only bottom down), in a ruffled skirt of paisley variant, and I have to say – much love to those mid-calf Nike socks and hemp anklet. What a way to complement either 1) a pretty skirt or 2) a progressive kilt. And next, you will notice a man of seemingly small stature curled up on the ground, wearing a brown fedora and sandals – not so outstanding, but interesting nevertheless. And we round out the group with a bicep and a forearm, and an assumed old man (we deduce from the long pearly white hair) in a wheelchair, who has a pretty amazing red fedora, all sashed with a slightly paler red ribbon (I love white hair, by the by. If I could choose a hair color without it looking ancient, I would choose white).

A woman surveying an assortment of breads, dressed fully in mint green, from bandana all the way down to trousers.

Heads of cauliflowers stacked on top of each other (Caulilflower au gratin is very good). Note the use of “heads,” which may prompt an immediately gruesome image of skulls piled in a heap. Also, note the meaning of the word “caul,” which is “a thin, filmy membrane, the amniotic sac, that covers or partly covers the newborn mammal immediately after birth. It is also the membrane enclosing the paunch of mammals, particularly as in pork and mutton butchery. In butchery, the caul is used as offal.” Think about that when consuming your next caulifower, and revel in the pleasant aesthetic and cognitive experience.

They call these “Sweet Peas.” They kind of look like pea-onies.

Captured once, Girl in Red Dress.

Captured twice, Girl in Red Dress.

(Notice I capture many backs and backs of heads. This is my method of being discreet.)

A favorite activity of many Farmers Market & Costco frequenters: sampling free food (peach season is beginning, hurrah!).

A catwalk of hats, minus the frontman.

I dig the tie-dye dress…

And for further enhanced aesthetic pleasure, watch this video (Brooke Waggoner’s “The Golden Ear Theatre”):

The Golden Ear Theatre from adam patrick jones on Vimeo.

Highly recommended; faintly reminiscent of a scene from Gulliver’s Travels, though a lot more artistic and effeminately constructed. (For further reference, go here.)