California 2010: Drumming at the Edge of The United States

LOS ANGELES—My week in the City of Angels has come to an end; later today, I will be flying back to the East Coast after an interesting and sometimes eye-opening week here. A fuller round-up of the trip will be forthcoming here at My Life, at 24 Frames Per Second.

In the meantime, here's a brief blast of sublimity I experienced yesterday while my friend and I wandered along Venice Beach.



I was walking along Venice Beach when I saw a large crowd arranged in a circle and heard a lot of loud drumming coming out of that circle. Naturally curious, I walked closer to the action and found myself in the midst of a gathering of the Venice Beach Drum Circle—not an official musical group, but a kind of subculture that embraces anyone willing to participate in drumming and dancing for hours on end. The experience of simply watching them in action was simply enthralling. As I witnessed this intoxicating spectacle of rhythmic splendor and passionate movement, I realized that no photo, however imaginatively framed, could really capture the essence of the moment—so I turned on the video-capturing option on my Canon Powershot SD400 and shot the little snippet above.

Consider this my return gift for you all: an infectious dose of positive energy. Because we could always use more of that, can we not? Enjoy! Feel free to get up and dance in your own room as you watch this, if you'd like!