You hear “SoCal,” and you probably picture endless sunshine, palm trees, just one long summer day, right? That’s the brochure, anyway. But let me tell you, living here and really trying to get into the groove of the place, I’ve learned it’s all about these things I call ‘SoCal cycles’. It’s way more complicated, and frankly, more interesting than just good weather.
My Brilliant (or so I thought) Plan to “Get” SoCal
So, I had this idea a while back. I wasn’t just going to be a tourist. Nope. I decided I was going to really understand the rhythm of Southern California. My grand plan was to pick a new spot each week – different beaches, little towns, you name it. I’d go there, spend the day, maybe do some sketching, take detailed notes. My own little ‘practice record’ of observing SoCal’s true vibe. I thought I’d end up with this cool collection, a real deep dive.
And Then SoCal Showed Me Who’s Boss
Well, that plan met reality pretty quick. The first week? Amazing. Everything went just like I imagined. I was feeling pretty smug, thinking, ‘I’ve cracked the code!’ Then, boom. The ‘SoCal cycles’ started to hit me, and they came in all sorts of flavors. It wasn’t just one thing; it was a whole messy combo.
- The Weather See-Saw: Man, this was the first shocker. You’d check the forecast, looks perfect. Drive an hour, and suddenly it’s like you’re in a different country. One day it’s blazing hot inland, but the coast is socked in with fog so thick you can’t see the water. My sketchbook got more weird damp spots than actual drawings some days. That “June Gloom” everyone talks about? Yeah, it can stretch into July, or pop up randomly. So much for consistent sunny sketching days.
- The People Tides: This one really threw me. I’d pick a spot, thinking, “Okay, mid-week, it’ll be quiet.” Get there, and it’s like a carnival just spontaneously erupted. A farmers market I didn’t know about, a film crew taking over a whole block, or just a sudden unexplained surge of people. My ‘peaceful observation’ practice often turned into ‘navigate the random crowd’ practice.
- The Vibe Shifts: This was the weirdest cycle. Some days, a place would feel super chill, laid back, exactly what you’d expect. Go back another time, same day of the week, and the whole energy is different. Tense, rushed, or just… off. It’s like the collective mood of an area has its own cycle. You can’t predict it, you just feel it when you’re there.
My carefully planned ‘practice record’ started looking more like a diary of frustrations. Notes like “Fogged out again,” or “Too many darn influencers doing photoshoots,” or “Couldn’t find parking for three miles.” It was a lesson, that’s for sure.
What I Finally Figured Out About These Cycles
After a good few months of getting tossed around by these ‘SoCal cycles,’ I started to see the pattern. Or rather, the pattern of no pattern. SoCal isn’t this static, predictable thing. It’s dynamic. It’s constantly changing, shifting. These cycles aren’t flaws; they’re just part of its personality. You can’t just expect it to be one way all the time.
It’s not like other places where you have distinct seasons and that’s that. Here, it’s a constant dance of microclimates, pop-up events, and sudden swells of different kinds of people and energies. My whole ‘practice’ had to change. I stopped trying to force my plan onto SoCal and started just… rolling with whatever it threw at me. Some days I’d get a great sketch, other days I’d just end up people-watching or getting a coffee and soaking in the chaos. It made me realize that the real SoCal isn’t just in the picture-perfect moments, but in all that unpredictable, messy, cyclical stuff in between. And you know what? It’s a lot more real that way.
