AN ALL-TOO-COMMON ADDICTION

It was a beautiful spring morning in LaJolla, California . I had flown to San Diego the evening before. After a pleasant breakfast, the cab driver had taken me five miles to LaJolla. In an hour and a half he was to pick me up for the trip to the San Diego airport, where I would catch a shuttle for the two-hour trip down to Ensanada, Mexico. From there I would board the Dawn Princess to Hawaii. As I strolled through LaJolla, I was completely charmed by its gorgeous Pacific setting and its quaint shops. I sat in one of the shops and sipped coffee, while reading a book and looking at the ocean. As it got closer to time for Ebbie, the cab driver, to pick me up, I started walking back to LaJolla Cove, where we were to meet. Passing through Ellen Browning Scripps Park, I noticed joggers, walkers, lovers and sightseers. I walked up to a rail and joined the sightseers and stood speechless while gazing at the grandeur of breakers against the rocky shoreline. A hundred yards or so below was a middle-aged couple sitting on a rock. It appeared they, too, were enjoying the sights, as well as each other