Where The SUN, Southwestern College meets the WiLDCOAST: Summer days, Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach (I.B.) is home to WiLDCOAST, and me. It is a small town in a big city with a life and style of its own. Its reputation has changed over time from a roughneck biker town, riddled with drugs to a precious piece of coastal land that shares its life with the Tijuana River Estuary.

I.B. still has a distinctive, laid-back flavor that has always been a draw for those of us who choose to live here. Even with the massive population explosion in the past 20 years, you just cannot get the taste of I.B. out of your mouth.

Imperial Beach's laid-back feel is contagious.

By far, the best attraction in I.B. is the estuary. My favorite is walking to the mouth of the Tijuana River. Spectacular views and an abundance of wildlife travel alongside.

It has been a long time since I have walked my way to the river on the beach, but it was a beautiful I.B. day. “June Gloom” left and it really felt like July was here.

Getting to the beach, I looked at the crowd that thickened closer to the pier. Bustling with people, fishing, swimming, tanning and surfing, I walked down to the river first.

A group of sandpipers where first to greet me. I find it comical watching them run in and out of the surf searching for food. They run back and forth, as the waves came in, as if they do not want to get their feet wet.

Sandpipers run back and forth with incoming waves foraging for food.

Two lone surfers were catching the waves away from the crowd. Seeing surfers out on their boards, particularly while waiting on sets and in a more relaxed state, I can see their connection with the water.

I am not a big fan of being “in” the ocean, but I have always lived close to one, and in places surrounded by lakes and marshes. A sailor with more than 10 years “on” the ocean, I know this relationship with the sea is a reality to a spiritual level.

Surfing away from the crowds and closer to nature.

Pleasantly surprised for midday, birds were flying back and forth from the estuary to the ocean, diving then flying back. Walking at the top to look at the estuary there was a huge flock of birds of all feathers gathered together on a tiny patch of sandy land. Terns, gulls, pelicans and ducks all together, taking turns flying to the ocean or into the river to get food. I believe I discovered the estuary’s Time Square.

This sand piece of the estuary acts as a major airport for feeding birds.

At the mouth of the river, you see it all. All you have to do is look around. Mexico, the river and estuary, birds and if you look far down the beach, you can still see people and the pier.

Forcing itself into the estuary the ocean is living at the river’s mouth and you can see how nature works in balance. This is a great place to sit for as long as you can and look. Here, I find a silent muse and companion.