January 19th, 2008
It’s another beautiful morning at the beach. We’re staying ‘til the end of the month here at the La Jolla beach camp just outside Ensenada. Tony set up the solar panels yesterday afternoon so today we’re testing them out. While he tapped into the solar energy, I set a couple of items for the wind to engage. I brought two sets of chimes, some tiny little bells and some bamboo chimes that Tony reassembled after getting beaten up out at our place and its typical high wind zone! Here the beach breeze is gentle and refreshing and the chimes play ever so delicately!
We made our morning coffee and sat outside watching the waves come in and to our surprise we saw several dolphins playing just beyond the surf. We saw them briefly the other day, but this morning there were at least a half-dozen of them rising up. Then we saw something rise a up but there was no fin, so we grabbed the binoculars and low and behold it was a grey whale cresting just above the surface!!! How cool was that! We didn’t know they would be in this lovely little cove. We thought they were only further south in the lagoons of the southern Baja! What a treat! It seemed SO close to shore. We’ll keep a close eye out again tomorrow morning, and perhaps if we get brave enough, we’ll head out into the water to get a little closer to these amazing creatures of the sea. Swimming with dolphins and whales… you gotta love sabbatical.
Speaking of which, I just finished reading a great sci fi novel that will help with the chapter on alien sex. That Octavia Butler sure had one heck of an imagination! Great read called Lilith’s Brood. There’s two more in the series, so plenty more of the story to read… hurray!
Tony has taken the motorcycle off to venture into town for a little bit. It’s challenging to be in a place where you don’t speak the language. I’ve always admired immigrants who come to America with only a few bucks in their pocket and no knowledge of the land or the language. What amazing courage and sense of adventure. Of course for many it was not of choice but of necessity (or enslavement). What a tumultuous beginning to our country. And tomorrow, after three hundred years of slavery and less than a hundred years of freedom, our nation is about to inaugurate our first African-American president!!!! Even whale spotting doesn’t top that beautiful event. I am proud to be an American. A statement I was not prone to say very often. I held my head high the night of the election and when my friend Riham called all the way from Egypt I couldn’t have been more proud of my people! We cheered together! You go Obama!
Well, the beach calls me. Did I mention about the natural hot springs on the beach here??? Just in front of us—marked by a couple of big rocks—are some hot springs just below the surface. You dig a little bit and seriously hot water comes up. It mixes with the ocean water to cool it off just right! We sure found a great place to stop for a while. The man who owns it Alejandro is very sweet and makes sure we have everything we need. Across the street up the mountain a little bit he has some spots you can lease year round for only $750, yes, that price is for the entire YEAR, not week, not month! If we lived closer I would jump on that. If I were a bit older, I’d jump on that. But, there’s still more to do yet. But right now I’m off to enjoy the agua caliente!
It’s another beautiful morning at the beach. We’re staying ‘til the end of the month here at the La Jolla beach camp just outside Ensenada. Tony set up the solar panels yesterday afternoon so today we’re testing them out. While he tapped into the solar energy, I set a couple of items for the wind to engage. I brought two sets of chimes, some tiny little bells and some bamboo chimes that Tony reassembled after getting beaten up out at our place and its typical high wind zone! Here the beach breeze is gentle and refreshing and the chimes play ever so delicately!
We made our morning coffee and sat outside watching the waves come in and to our surprise we saw several dolphins playing just beyond the surf. We saw them briefly the other day, but this morning there were at least a half-dozen of them rising up. Then we saw something rise a up but there was no fin, so we grabbed the binoculars and low and behold it was a grey whale cresting just above the surface!!! How cool was that! We didn’t know they would be in this lovely little cove. We thought they were only further south in the lagoons of the southern Baja! What a treat! It seemed SO close to shore. We’ll keep a close eye out again tomorrow morning, and perhaps if we get brave enough, we’ll head out into the water to get a little closer to these amazing creatures of the sea. Swimming with dolphins and whales… you gotta love sabbatical.
Speaking of which, I just finished reading a great sci fi novel that will help with the chapter on alien sex. That Octavia Butler sure had one heck of an imagination! Great read called Lilith’s Brood. There’s two more in the series, so plenty more of the story to read… hurray!
Tony has taken the motorcycle off to venture into town for a little bit. It’s challenging to be in a place where you don’t speak the language. I’ve always admired immigrants who come to America with only a few bucks in their pocket and no knowledge of the land or the language. What amazing courage and sense of adventure. Of course for many it was not of choice but of necessity (or enslavement). What a tumultuous beginning to our country. And tomorrow, after three hundred years of slavery and less than a hundred years of freedom, our nation is about to inaugurate our first African-American president!!!! Even whale spotting doesn’t top that beautiful event. I am proud to be an American. A statement I was not prone to say very often. I held my head high the night of the election and when my friend Riham called all the way from Egypt I couldn’t have been more proud of my people! We cheered together! You go Obama!
Well, the beach calls me. Did I mention about the natural hot springs on the beach here??? Just in front of us—marked by a couple of big rocks—are some hot springs just below the surface. You dig a little bit and seriously hot water comes up. It mixes with the ocean water to cool it off just right! We sure found a great place to stop for a while. The man who owns it Alejandro is very sweet and makes sure we have everything we need. Across the street up the mountain a little bit he has some spots you can lease year round for only $750, yes, that price is for the entire YEAR, not week, not month! If we lived closer I would jump on that. If I were a bit older, I’d jump on that. But, there’s still more to do yet. But right now I’m off to enjoy the agua caliente!
Say "hi" to the whales for us--we are missing our trip to the tropics this winter, but trying to embrace the wicked cold weather and the beautiful snow in St Louis. Keep posting--I love reading your journals! You are a wonderful writer :-)
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