Sand

Tom Titus One thing there's no shortage of in this part of the world is sand. From Seal Beach to San Clemente, the coastline abounds in the stuff. But if you're putting on a play that's set on a beach and need, say, a few tons of it for your setting, be prepared to break out the checkbook. That's what director Terri Miller Schmidt found out when she started looking for the sand required for her play, "Coastal Disturbances," which opened this weekend at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse.

Bryce Alderton As deadline draws near, the days will likely stretch into more hours for some workers charged with installing the new synthetic turf inside LeBard Stadium on the Orange Coast College campus. But they are ready and determined to do what it takes to have the field primed before 5 p.m. Saturday, when Orange Coast will host Saddleback for its home opener. "We'll most likely work under the lights [Wednesday night]," said Dave Darclay, a technician with FieldTurf, the company installing the artificial grass inside the venerable stadium, which turns 50 today.

Soon after the repeal of Prohibition, a liquor store opened on Balboa. It was on the oceanfront in the space previously occupied by Dirty George and his hamburger stand. For us dedicated beachgoers, this was a great improvement. When Dirty George left, he took with him all his flies, which had become something of a problem for us. The beach was quite narrow in those days, and the only way you could get away from Dirty George's flies was to get in the water, and there is only so long you can stay in the water without getting pneumonia.

An old surfing buddy, Bill Cleary, died recently. In the '60s, Bill put together a map of surfing spots, "Surf Guide," which became a classic. I met Bill in about 1958, when he showed up at Little Corona one day, a flatlander from San Marino curious about the waves. At that time, Little Corona was the hangout of a group of bodysurfers ranging in age from 10 to 50 and in occupation from artist to unemployed, with everything in between. John MacIntosh, the restaurateur, was a regular, but so was someone named Skunky.

Misty May-Treanor, a former Newport Harbor High standout, is returning to the sand. May-Treanor, who has been out for a year, will reunite with longtime partner Kerri Walsh for the AVP Crocs Tour World Challenge: USA vs. Brazil, Sept. 25-27 in Glendale, Ariz. “It’s hard to believe it has been an entire year since I last played on tour,” May-Treanor said in a statement. “I’ve been working hard to get back into shape after the injury and I think it will be a lot of fun getting back on the sand and playing with Kerri in this unique event.

Young Chang Excuse me, girl with the red umbrella and sad face. Do you see the row of teens about two blocks out in the ocean? They're standing in a line waiting for the next huge wave so that pummeling into chaos together will be memorable once the water's too cold. Closer to shore, a crab barely larger than a silver dollar runs amok -- probably trying to escape the colossal waves but also our inconsiderate feet. A young boy rushes to and from the same shore with his singular plastic cup in hopes that one day, his entire pod of sand will be wet enough to build with.

o7Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting -- a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it. f7 -- RALPH WALDO EMERSON I didn't realize until the end of summer that I hadn't done something that used to be an essential part of summer when I was younger -- go to the beach. I can't blame it on red tides or jellyfish. It's just that going to the beach wasn't a priority for me this year.

A while ago, I reminisced about lifeguards I had known. I left out one of the more remarkable ones, Don Vaughn. Don was the son of Tiny Vaughn, the Constable of Newport Beach Township. This was before municipal courts and municipal court marshals. Our local justice of the peace was Donald Dodge, and Tiny Vaughn was his constable. Tiny's actual name was Frank, but I never heard anyone call him by that name. Tiny wasn't tiny. At 6-foot-7, he was a huge slab of a man who must have weighed well over 300 pounds.

Good timing — last week I told you about Surfrider Newport Beach’s RockWater Relay Race for awareness of our Santa Ana River watershed. The ol’ watershed’s getting a workout this week so rain and surfing makes a good topic. I remember a big storm long ago, and maybe someone can help me with the year, where we had nearly a weeklong, relentless pour. San Mateo Creek dumped so much silt onto the reef at Lower Trestles that the break was wrecked for several years.

A group of first-graders at Paularino Elementary have been working on spy gear in the afternoons, bringing home tools to get a closer look at the world around them. As part of Science Adventures, an after-school program at Paularino, students explore one facet of science at a time from a fun perspective. These first-graders are working on a program called “Spy Tek,” which will have them making microscopes, flashlights and other instruments to enhance the senses. “We try to rotate through all the grades,” said Teresa Wickett, school administrative assistant.