6:30 AM : Loreto – 5:30 PM : Los Angeles
6:30 AM Loreto Sunrise
5:30 PM The Greater LA Basin
… thinking outloud through imagery …
Category Archives: Casa de Catalina
Morning Birthday Gifts
Loreto Sunrise
Quiet seas and shimmering dawn. Early morning osprey calls. The whiz of hummingbird wings next to my face. The splash of hungry pelican. A brisk walk to a thought provoking seminar by Mark Spalding the Ocean Foundation on environmental governance, part of the three-day Simposio de Ciencia de la Conservación en Loreto (Conservation Science Symposium). A vulture parked atop a palapa waiting for???
A seven mile SUP on glassy blue green seas filled with fleets of small yellowtail, puffer fish, sulking rays, fat faced puffer fish …. and … a sea turtle! First time paddling I’ve had that kind of up/close encounter. Cormorants and gulls. Lots of wonderful messages from friends all over the world.
Now, to hop a flight back to the states just in time for dinner with my mother, Kay Wright. It just happens to be her birthday, too! Happy Birthday, Mom ….
Water drop kisses
Afternoon Rainbow
An afternoon storm swept in quietly without much wind or fanfare. The sky had been cloud filled, but toward four o’clock, light grey turned to dark, and heavy drops fell intermittently.
There is such magic in the desert when there is rain, especially when it passes through without floods or washed roads. The afternoon shower was brief, but delightful. Buster and I walked north toward the distant point, laughing at the drops, watching the birds fluff the feathers.
Vulture & Osprey Holding Court
On the branches of a tall cardon, a vulture and an osprey seemed to be holding court. Their watchful eyes searching for food, even at some distance for the osprey from the water.
As the storm passed through, the droplets became heavier, but still felt like kisses. All of a sudden, a rainbow – that magical golden arc of light – crossed the sky in front of me. What a perfectly delightful way to celebrate Friday.
Buster & the Burro
Buster & the Burro
The horses and burros have made themselves at home in the neighborhood. Sometimes they are beyond the fenced perimeter; sometimes the just walk through the gate. The search for green and edible is ceaseless, especially after a very dry ‘rainy’ season. The desert can be a harsh place for range animals.
On our morning walk, Buster and I encountered the burro in on one of the large undeveloped lots. He was chewing on some tree leaves, but when he saw us, he hurried in our direction.
“This is one big animal,” Buster whispered under his doggy breath.
Buster alternately went close and pulled back, not quite sure what to think of being so close to the large long legged, tall ears, fuzzy tailed mammal.
The burro is hobbled – his front legs are tied together – and so he can only take tiny steps or hop. While I understand that this supposedly keeps him from running away – clearly he already has run from wherever he started – it pained me to watch him struggle to walk. His buddies, the other burro and the three horses plus new pony, could be heard braying and naying in the distance near the dry arroyo.
When Buster realized that the Burro was not likely to charge him, he stepped closer for a better scent. I advised that he not stand toooo close to those hind feet, which I know can still wallop a kick. After a few sniffs at the adjacent ground, and a few ‘good-morning-to-you-burro’ barks, we continued on our early walk.
Day Two 2011
Will I ever tire of the sunrise?
Sometimes I think, “enough.” But no, I grab the camera, capture the light. There is always something different. Clouds shifted, glassy seas or wind swept, the sky a range of color fields.
In the stillness, the air gathers in on itself and slowly exhales in rhythm with the sea. It is a song that musicians cannote capture, no matter the longing.
The gathering of seabirds, in search of their first meal. The flap of wings, the throaty call of the heron, the high pitched whistle of the tern. The splash of fish, slap of wave, rustle of palm branches.
In the distance, a rooster reminds his brood that it is once again day. Dogs echo and their woofs and howls call to one another, an ancient language replayed in the debut of another dawn.
December 31 .. The last day of 2010.
Sunrise, Sea of Cortez, December 31, 2010
Last day, last sunrise of 2010.
Woke earlier than usual : 4:00 AM and what to do. Sleep filled and nothing left but to meditate and greet the new day in darkness. Poured hot coffee and savored the quiet. A crescent moon lingered with Saturn clinging to its sphere. NASA reporting storms on the ringed planet .. new information on how things in the planetary world are created.
All the dogs come for morning treats, and still it’s dark. They chew, I sip .. and then I give it over. The hint of light coming from behind the island beckons me. I tie the laces on my shoes, grab the camera and off we go, down the long beach toward the distant point.
The air is chilled and the wind still from the WSW as it has been for days. The sea has been strange with this blow. The beach houses block the wind right at the waters edge, creating surreal glassy pools, while just beyond the roof lines, ripples fan out toward the island and the open water.
The seabirds have been luxurious. Terns, cormorants, grebes, egrets, herons, an osprey .. pelicans, boobies, gulls, sandpipers, marbled godwits, sanderlings, lesser yellow legs. As if everyone has come to celebrate the end of the year. Even the dolphin have moved closer in the shallows, savoring the small bait fish that swim nearer to shore.
Estuary at Dawn
At the edge of the sea, and running westward to the Pacific, lies the gorgeous extremes of the Baja desert. Dry and subtropical on the eastern shores, the climate and plantlife are part of the Sonoran region, a part of one of the the largest and hottest deserts in North America. Tall cardon, a relative of the saguaro cactus stand like tall sentries amidst mesquite and paloverde trees.
Estuaries are common on the eastern shores, with wading birds in wild variety and large numbers. Migratory birds, such as the Arctic Tern, make use of Baja for their winter home.
Buster and I walked into the morning light, solitary figures on the long stretch of beach that spreads north from town. We walked for over an hour with not a single person in sight, but plenty of heron, egrets, pelicans and cormorants.
Heron gliding northward along the beach.
The squawk of the heron as Buster flushed him from the shallows echoed down the sandy shoreline. He landed again and again, only to pick up his wings again as we grew closer.
Finally, the sun slipped up behind the edge of Isla Carmen in a beautiful – if not momentary – display of color – before tucking behind a bank of clouds. We turned back toward home. I was thinking coffee … Buster was thinking dog treats.
Buster leads the way on our morning walk.
So began the last day of the year .. Filled with gratitude for all that has come to us, all the experiences, all the learning .. the friendships, the adventures, the joys, the challenges and the successes.
after the longest night
the sun crested the isla carmen one minute earlier this morning : 7:14 instead of 7:15 .. yes, the shortest day and longest night have passed … there must be a metaphor in this.
the air is still and warm. no waves and hardly a ripple on the water. i find this magical, as i continue to drink in living in such close proximity to the water .. a constant that defies my emotional ups and downs, the comings and goings of friends, the wild off-road racer revving his engine somewhere in the distance, the cock-a-doodle do, and the grazing of cattle on the flowers and trees in my garden. i wish i could craft a plan – to do something more to protect her, to nourish her .. as i write that, i remind myself to listen .. that the messages are always present, it’s merely plucking one or the other from the chorus ..
a pelican dives for fish. his splash is another of the sounds that burn into my memory bank. yesterday hundreds of blue-footed boobies diving in formation like fighter planes .. my joy expands ..
Wings & Wonder
The sky ablaze this morning with 60 or so vultures, circling, searching. What has died? What is about to die? Joining the fray, a Magnificent frigate bird, his long lanky body with split tail stark against the chunky vulture bodies. As they continued to swirl, a lone red tail hawk joined the sky born dance. Similar in size, in their silhouette against the sun, he was almost hidden, except for a distinctive wing formation and different soaring/flapping pattern. Soon, more vultures, another frigate bird and the sky was bird bird bird … and then gone. Whatever they had hoped for or sensed, had scurried deep into the stark desert landscape, and the winged ones dispersed.
- Egret in the shallows
Yesterday on our early dog walk, one of the ‘resident’ egrets fished the estuarian inlet near the house. While the dogs played, I sat on the side of the water watching the tall white bird hunt for tiny fish trapped by the tidal flow.
In the desert it seems, it is bird life that is most obvious. Their appearances at all times of the day and weather remind me of the mysteries of life, the magic of flight .. the dreams of Icarus.
Moon & the Milky Way
The moon races past quarter toward half. It’s light begins to occlude the Milky Way, but the brighter stars still shimmer in the darkened sky. Buster and I walk the ‘hood’ and listen to horses whinnying in the distance, mingled with a few car noises on distant Mex 1. The quiet is decidedly soothing … a smile turns up the corners of my lips and I thank my friends for all their support and help to get me here.
Before I headed south, I had counted the days left in my Laguna home by the phases of the moon .. How many full? How many new moons? Now, the count moves in the other direction. The mind begins to settle. The heart begins to find its own rhythm.
Buster learns to SUP (minus the P)
Buster and the SUP
Talk about a water dog! I think sometimes that Buster must be part Spaniel. It’s now to the point, I can’t take the SUP board near the water without him climbing on board.
These pictures were shot at Coronado Island, where friend Alex had taken us for an afternoon of picnic and water play. I packed sandwiches .. and between paddles, we ate, drank some beers and just enjoyed being alive amid turquoise waters and friendship.
While paddling the dark lava rocks that ring the island’s shore, Buster and I encountered schools of Cortez Angelfish that numbered in the hundreds. Their dark black bodies with white and orange stripes presented a bold contrast to the amazing blue of their watery world. A stellar day .. or is that a good sea of a day …
Baja Dreaming 
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