Juanita (Cardiospermum corundum), Isla Monserrate, Gulf of California
St. Patrick's Day is here and the desert is adorned in green finery. She's been a long time in acquiring it. Many years go by and the soil sits brown and barren. But every once in a while, temperature and rainfall mix in just the perfect combination and life bursts forth. This has been just such a year and the harvest is bountiful for terrestrial and avian beings. Trees, often leafless, are verdant and rich. Cacti sit on cushions of grass. Vines creep over and about anything and everything that will lend support. Annuals burst with brilliance attracting the attention of pollinators, large and small.
There is a peace and contentment in watching color flow into the day and then in seeing it fade away at night. Quiet surrounds in the early morning with only the sound of the bow cutting into the indigo sea. If one looks at a sand dollar from the side, the asymmetrical hump would fit Isla Coronados as its charcoal silhouette sat against the brightening sky. Behind it, the lights of Loreto twinkled like the stars being extinguished by the sun. In the east, a carmine colored belt blended into Isla del Carmen and one wonders if those who bestowed the name upon the land were looking at it at just such a moment centuries ago. The sun leapt into the sky with a brilliant flash of green and then proceeded to create a world washed in a warm red glow where dolphins swam in a golden pool.
While green symbolized a plentiful bounty in the terrestrial world, the shapes and forms of a myriad of marine mammals showed us the riches of the deep cold sea. Bottlenose and common dolphins rode our bow. Humpback whales breached. Bryde's whales teased us to predict their next move and a fin whale dashed about. Drifting quietly upon the surface, snorkelers immersed themselves in the silent underwater scene where colorful fish darted into crevasses that secreted strange invertebrates. Kayakers too could partake of this sight, but the rhythm of their paddles added music to their view.
As night fell, Cassiopeia and Ursa Major slowly circled Polaris accompanied by the chords of a guitar. Faces glowed in the firelight and marshmallows roasted on the open flames. As the embers dimmed the last blush of the day disappeared and all that could be seen was the black and white march of constellations across the sky.
St. Patrick's Day is here and the desert is adorned in green finery. She's been a long time in acquiring it. Many years go by and the soil sits brown and barren. But every once in a while, temperature and rainfall mix in just the perfect combination and life bursts forth. This has been just such a year and the harvest is bountiful for terrestrial and avian beings. Trees, often leafless, are verdant and rich. Cacti sit on cushions of grass. Vines creep over and about anything and everything that will lend support. Annuals burst with brilliance attracting the attention of pollinators, large and small.
There is a peace and contentment in watching color flow into the day and then in seeing it fade away at night. Quiet surrounds in the early morning with only the sound of the bow cutting into the indigo sea. If one looks at a sand dollar from the side, the asymmetrical hump would fit Isla Coronados as its charcoal silhouette sat against the brightening sky. Behind it, the lights of Loreto twinkled like the stars being extinguished by the sun. In the east, a carmine colored belt blended into Isla del Carmen and one wonders if those who bestowed the name upon the land were looking at it at just such a moment centuries ago. The sun leapt into the sky with a brilliant flash of green and then proceeded to create a world washed in a warm red glow where dolphins swam in a golden pool.
While green symbolized a plentiful bounty in the terrestrial world, the shapes and forms of a myriad of marine mammals showed us the riches of the deep cold sea. Bottlenose and common dolphins rode our bow. Humpback whales breached. Bryde's whales teased us to predict their next move and a fin whale dashed about. Drifting quietly upon the surface, snorkelers immersed themselves in the silent underwater scene where colorful fish darted into crevasses that secreted strange invertebrates. Kayakers too could partake of this sight, but the rhythm of their paddles added music to their view.
As night fell, Cassiopeia and Ursa Major slowly circled Polaris accompanied by the chords of a guitar. Faces glowed in the firelight and marshmallows roasted on the open flames. As the embers dimmed the last blush of the day disappeared and all that could be seen was the black and white march of constellations across the sky.
