Anniversary Contest Honorable Mention:: The people we meet in the South Bay
Honorable Mention Photography: “Roundhouse morning.” Paddler Brian Schnuckel photographed by Stefan Beeli in December 2025 with a Fujifilm Finepix XP120. by Janice Nigro Amelia breathed in the sea air, as she slid open the door to her restaurant “Pasta e Gelato,” looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The marine layer was just beginning to break while some of the late-waking surfers traipsed down to the beach for their morning session. In her oversized sunglasses and wide-brimmed hat, the aroma of Bolognese sauce encircling her, Amelia scribbled in chalk across the sidewalk sign “bacio,” Italian for kiss, as the gelato flavor of the month. “Morgen, I mean morning,” she heard one of the surfers say, wetsuit turned down at the waist, surfboard hooked under his arm, hair bleached white. “Hey, er du norsk? Are you Norwegian?” Amelia yelled out to the surfer, looking like he just stepped out of the official World Cup photo of the Norwegian national soccer team in Viking costumes. “Whoa! An American who speaks Norwegian? How is that possible?” the surfer said. “Come back and find out after your date with the waves!” “It smells so good here, I don’t think I can resist.” Maybe the Norwegian…
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