Pismo Beach Bonfire of the Vanities

This evening I indulged in a welcome respite from the constant rhythm of responsibility and crisis which has defined my past several weeks. I attended a beach bonfire gathering of friends and their friends at Pismo State Beach down on the beach itself, the world-famous one the public may drive out onto. The wind was initially brisk in route inland to feed the Sundowner Wind event which fueled the Sherpa Fire this evening in adjacent Santa Barbara County. Fortunately, the strong seabreeze calmed down after sundown so we could enjoy some fire-twirling by friends. It was a fun way to celebrate my buddy Blake's birthday as well as both our recent graduations from Cal Poly and reunite with some friends/acquaintances we both know from our Cuesta College days. Most meaningful was seeing our mutual buddy Kameron McMeekin whom we have not seen nearly enough the past few years. It was also really nice to see Lonnan and Britt McIntyre after too long a time. Oh, and now I can finally place Ashley Reika who better get back to blogging!
 

Our gathering is at left where a fire disk can be seen being made by Kameron.

This is the light of the magic hour near high summer along the Central Coast of California.

The fire twirling commences at left.

Kameron's fire twirling.

This was the first time I had seen Kameron do this although he has been doing it the past couple of years.

I like the artistic effect of these images I captured with my camera quite by accident.

There is something rather primal-feeling about people gathered around a fire after darkness falls. All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).