Earthquake memories

The last hole in the ground from the 1989 earthquake is gone. The old Bookshop Santa Cruz and Coffee Roasting Company site has been bulldozed in preparation for condominiums.

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That's the old bookstore basement on the left, where the used books and textbooks were, and the Roasting Company on the right. I once went down into that basement to buy a small scale used for measuring chemistry experiments. The dirt where the men in orange are standing is where the first Pergolesi's was, long before it was on Maple and Cedar.



These dancers started life as part of a First Night Celebration many years ago. First Night. The officialization of the town clock parties. I guess they did get out of hand, but I preferred them when they were home made, without lights or bands, and our own champagne.





I won't miss this mural.

Cottontails, the children's clothing store, which seemed a long shot when it was one of the first businesses to open downtown after the earthquake has closed.


Dragonwood, which started in Capitola, also closed last week, just down the street from Cottontails. My favorite memory of Dragonwood was the October afternoon I was browsing there among the fairy windchimes and incense and candles and it started to rain. The clerk exclaimed "I smell rain!" and he ran out into it, with his arms in the air. "Oh how I love the smell of rain!"

Now there is a dance shoe and costume store there.

Finally, Naked Ladies, which I recently learned are properly called Amaryllis. The are here because they bloom in late summer and are beautiful.