This is my most recent “rock
painting”. It is an ancient Aztec symbol for night and day. Definitely taxed the
steadiness of my hand but great fun to attempt. I have been "re-inspired" to do
these due to my son Zack’s creations while here.
The one below I completed
shortly after he left and represents to me our mutual experiences with the dolphins.
It comes from a Minoan wall painting on Crete.
It’s all about recognizing
the truth of things isn’t it. All my life the same message runs clear –
connection to Nature and the simple things is where my peace lies.
This too is a simple thing
and part of the quest to connect and appreciate. Telescopes, microscopes
and all the other scientific technology we have as tools for discovering the
“nature” of our universe.
Saturn as never seen before
Not only was I blessed
with a scientific education that allowed me to FULLY appreciate the scope of
the universe, now I live in a veritable garden of delightful life forms. These
are some of the critters I spend my days with intimately.
Spiny Tailed Iguana
Desert Iguana
Walking Stick
Greater Road Runner
Unfortunately I cannot
dismiss what is being done to our planet. This is a visual of the North Pacific Ocean Gyra of plastic debris collecting off our shores.
This is very serious!
You can see that the gyra is beginning to impinge on the migratory route for
the humpbacks between Baja and Alaska – these are my OTHERS “The Whale People”
and I am angry! In my darker moments I feel an intolerant disposition towards all
those who could not truly care and I feel combative.
Personal and otherwise!
But then my daughter Kersti posts something that brings me back to my center and I know that if I stay in my core, then and only then am I living my “I Am”.
Here’s the young lady
(center) that always, always finds the exact right words to bring her father a
greater peace.
Most recent photo with a couple of dear friends.
Speaking of young
ladies:
Some years ago this
young lady (then Kirin Riddell) joined me for a magnificent day with The Whale
People – 11 Blue Whales and 2 Humpbacks. Recently she was married in Alaska
where she now lives. This is a picture of her “running the bases” the day of
her wedding. I love this picture! “Good on ya”, Kirin!
The other day I was
out in my kayak and decided to paddle north close to shore to see how far the
reef extended in that direction and if there were any especially good dive
spots there. I passed the northern edge of our reef and continued further
because I had been told by Nantzy Hensley that there were some good spots in front
of her place. The water was especially clear so I could see down a good ways.
Almost exactly in front of her place I saw a deeper crevice in the reef and
many, many fish. I dove over the side (my kayak is always tethered to my ankle and my paddle to the kayak so that I am free to dive anywhere without needing to worry about drift) and
was treated to one of my best reef experiences ever. Part of it was due of
course to the clarity of the water but man was it great. I counted at least a
dozen different species of fish - and in really large numbers. Beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful!!
On the 29th of June I came across turtle tracks on the beach about ¼ mile south of my place.
Hoohah - turtle tracks!!
It must have been a
good sized female because the track was wide and deep.....and new. She probably
came up in the very early morning. I followed the tracks to her nest, marked it
(unobtrusively) and then covered her tracks from the water and back (some
poaching still goes on down here so I do what I can). I peed all around the
nest and peed again later to deter local dogs. The eggs should be hatching
right about now – hope some make it - it’s a tough life journey for the little
ones.
A few days earlier the
Red Skimmer dragon fly migration began. It’s hard to capture the extent of it
but here’s a try.
They were passing at
about 2500/minute (very, very conservative estimate) within 30’ of my trailer.
I volunteered to play
on the local baseball team next season but then promptly twisted my neck and
re-evaluated the offer. I’m going to the itinerate chiropractor (used to be the
team chiropractor for The 49er’s) in Los Barriles in about 10 days and I’ll see
where I stand. The local “jock” is Nelson Verdugo Angulo and he and I have become friends due
to both of our intense interest in sports. He always joins me at Alfonzo’s cantina
for 49er games and I join him for soccer and baseball.....or anything else
sports-like. While talking to him at the cantina the other day I found out that
he has been a professional boxer, a jockey, and had been a pitcher for the semi-pro
San Jose Del Cabo baseball team. He now drives the school bus, works with our
local carpenter and does any kind of pick work including of course fishing.
Then we started talking about various sports injuries we had sustained over the
years. What a hoot! The guy is a walking physical witness to what the body can
endure. He even showed me all the surgical scars to prove it – I was absolutely
amazed. He is also one of the friendliest and most courteous men I know. Truth
of it is – just about every male in our village is like that. I am really proud
to be part of this community.
"Nelson" Verdugo Angulo at short stop on the local Cardonal team
On the 19th
of July I made a dive (snorkeling only - I have become more cautious about SCUBA
diving alone) on the reef and got into a large (30-40) school of King Angel Fish. They
are one of my favorite fish and though I see them often I have never seen a
school like that. Shortly after I spied my old friend the Hawksbill Sea Turtle
and swam with her/him for a while.
Not my pic but exactly what it was like
Some Trivia:
Some Trivia:
I may or may not have
been inspired to write a children’s book. I am struggling to get started but I
have gotten some words on paper.
I saw this in a book
I’m reading, can’t remember which one now but I thought I would share it.
I am the
Wind that blows over the Sea;
I am the Wave of the Deep;
I am the Wave of the Deep;
I am the
Bull of the Seven Battles;
I am the
Eagle upon the rock;
I am a
Tear of the Sun;
I
recently discovered that 20% of Estonians prefer to embrace ancient Pagan
concepts (nature worship) than Christianity etc. Hoohah!
NASA is
12 billion short on the funds needed for the development of a deep space
rocket. This rocket would help open up vistas undreamed of in space before.
That’s the cost of 6 Stealth Bombers – WTF!
Check out this sculpture by John Lopez of Eagle Butte, South Dakota. He creates these from pure junk found in his area. Google him – you will be amazed.
Here’s a great shot of
a Gannet I saw the other day on FB. Not my photo!
And it reminded me of
a pic I got of a pelican at about the same moment early on a beautiful morning down at the bluff.
What an innocent child
I was, but Mother Nature has remained the same – always healing.
"Keep on truckin" folks
"Keep on truckin" folks
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