MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, the Jewel of the Missions
On with our journey and north to San Juan Capistrano where the mission of the same name is located. This is the 7th in the chain of missions established by Father Junipero Serra. The first site had no water and they relocated to to the present site. We’ve seen several of the California Missions and this is very much in the same mold.
One of the most interesting parts of this Mission is the Great Stone Church, a huge edifice started in 1797 with 7’ thick walls,
a bell tower so tall it could be seen for 10 miles, and 50’ high walls. It is an engineering marvel recognized as a Historical Engineering Landmark (how did they build up so high? How did they put the capstone in the arches in place?) Isidro Aguilar, a half-Aztec stonemason from Culican, Mexico, was brought to California to supervise the construction of this massive church. However, he died in 1803 and later masons were not of his quality. Though they tried, the walls were irregular necessitating another dome which added weight.
The Church was finally completed in 1806 and celebrated with a 3-day feast to celebrate what was considered the most magnificent church in California. Unfortunately, only 6 years later, on the morning of December 8, 1812, a series of large earthquakes shook southern California during the Sunday service. A 7.0 magnitude quake twisted the doors of the church, pinning them shut. The nave of the church came crashing down and the bell tower was completely obliterated. 40 worshipers attending Mass and the 2 young bell ringers died in the rubble and all were subsequently interred in the Mission cemetery.
Now the Great Stone Church stands as a memorial to them. Asked if they ever intend to rebuild the church, the curator of the Mission replies: ‘You don’t rebuild Stonehenge.’
The mission itself fell into disrepair in the 1800’s but continual restoration programs beginning in 1885 have mostly restored it to its former glory. Today many of the buildings are used for offices, museums, and display. As with most of the Spanish missions, services are still held here.
I know you’re probably asking if we saw any swallows? Well, no. Firstly we are too early, they arrive from Argentina where they spend the winter in March. Secondly, when they recently worked on stabilizing the Great Stone Church, the preservationists removed the nests that the swallows had built over many years. Since there are so many other areas where the swallows can nest, they have not come back here.
HOWEVER - they now have a Swallows Vocalization Experiment developed by Dr, Charles Brown. In this they play mating calls of the male swallow under some bushes near the Great Stone Church and hope that the swallows will return. The program proved successful last year and they plan to continue it.
I was walking around the Great Stone Church and heard some strange noises coming from some bushes in the corner. I followed them - sure enough. it was the Vocalization Experiment.
OCEANSIDE
We left the mission and headed south to Oceanside where we intended walking the pier and having dinner. It was getting on towards sunset so I left Gary at the car while I hurried down to the beach to get my pictures.
10 minutes later, I’m looking up for Gary and see him up on the road looking left and right for me. I began waving but he wasn’t looking down on the beach, he was looking along the street and the pier. I waved. He looked right. I waved harder. He look left. I called and began to really wave hard. Oh, shit. My wedding ring flew off my finger into the air and then landed in the sand.
Where, oh where did it land? How far away did it land? I couldn’t see it at all. Now, I’m really waving for Gary. Whew, he finally saw me and I motioned for him to come down to the beach. He sauntered down, thinking I had seen something in the sand I wanted him to see. I’m frantically looking around. I drew a circle around my feet so I would know where I had stood when it left my finger. “Gary, hurry up, get down here.’ Now, he’s running.
He can see that I’m looking for something.
Remember how we dawdled in the morning? Well, now, it’s cloudy, the sun is going down fast and my ring is somewhere on this beach, buried in the sand. Where are all those guys with the metal detectors when you need them? I’m imagining huddling here all night to protect the spot. We began to move in a grid pattern away from my circle. I shuffled 15’ to the right, over 2’ and began to shuffle back. Gary shuffled left on the other side of my circle.
Hey, what’s that? Probably a shell but I’ll look more closely. All I could see was a 1/2” circle. Oh, whew, it’s my ring. Oh, WOW. What luck. A whole beach of sand and we found my ring. A ring in a sand dune is better than a needle in a haystack.
Let’s have dinner to celebrate. It’s Ruby’s, at the end of the pier, an institution. This pier is the longest wooden pier on the West Coast at 1942’ But it’s not the first pier, it’s the 6th since they started building piers here in 1888. They do love their pier and keep reconstructing it. All the other piers have met their fate in the waves, the wind and the storms. As we walked out the pier, the sun peered out from under the clouds and the sky turned orange and red.
Can you tell that it’s a bit cold?
Can you tell that I’m excited about dinner?
Time to head home. It’s been a long day.
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