burn AFTER READING!

       I hesitate to write about Manhattan Beach, California, 
        Before my daughter Maria moved out here I had never heard of the place.  Most of us living in the Heartland have never heard of the place,  which is probably a good thing.  I mean, it would be a shame if this beautiful little beach community were to become a Los Angeles tourist destination.  Which is why I hesitate to write about it - better to let it just remain a secret gem along the Pacific Ocean.  So secret that even the sharks don't know about it.  Or didn't know about it.
         They say the sharks, which have recently been stalking Santa Monica, Venice, and the other Southern California beaches, don't enter Manhattan Beach because Manhattan beach is a scooped-out indentation along the coastline and sharks only swim in a straight line so they miss Manhattan beach.  Or used to  miss Manhattan Beach.  But apparently the sharks  - or at least one shark (but hey, one finds out, he'll let all his shark buddies in on it, you know how that goes) -  has found Manhattan Beach.

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        A mother who took this photo at Manhattan Beach a couple days ago found that her picture had been photo-bombed by a shark!
         So it's already begun with the sharks.  The humans can't be far behind.