Kaleidoscopic Color, Tapestry of Texture:
Stillness & Movement in Baja
As I download my photos each morning and evening of this trip, I see a pattern emerging; colors begin to look kaleidoscopic while textures appear as an intricately woven tapestry. The warp (the strong vertical threads) is the foundation of a weaving; our experience here seems to be constructed of the assuredness of a sunrise and sunset each day and of the spontaneous but expected whale sightings in this region. The “weft” of a weaving is the horizontal threads woven into a tapestry; among these great daily cycles of whale encounters this week are woven the whale behaviors, the various species of whales we see. To add a special richness to this experience are the threads that shimmer: light on water, the edge where water meets land. What I find as I look at my photographs is that the outer movements and miracles here have created a spectacular stillness within me. Here are some examples of the miracles in Baja while among the “great whales”:
the green flash just prior to sunrise or sunset
a precise timing and quantity of rainfall that stimulate the desert into
bloom
the red and gray camouflage markings of a rock lizard
the sound of a blue whale’s exhalation
a simmering in the salt water that is evidence of a feeding school of
common dolphins
the soft spray of a gray whale mama’s breath
pelicans, cormorants and a yellow footed gull circling overhead
Costa’s hummingbirds and verdins darting among desert vegetation
the serenade of a cactus wren in the midmorning splendor
the “talons” of a cholla cactus and the basketry potential of a leather plant
cardon (“not a saguaro”) and palo adan (similar to an ocotillo) gracing the
desert floor
the tender, playful rolling and bubble-blowing of calf and mama grays
as they engage in thigmotactic delight
breaching, spy-hopping, fluke smacks of our baleen fellow mammals
dashing and darting, leaping and smacking of dolphins
the thickly tangled but sturdy roots of red, white and black mangroves
stretching into the saltwater
a bat, lizards, crabs and brittle stars adding more texture and nubs to this
time and these places
the playfulness of us visiting humans as we make up terms like “flukette”
and “breach party”, “phenorkytoodeling”, as well as the ‘creative history’ of words like “burrito”
the heartwrenching harmonies of humpback whales
an up-close look at dolphin and whale nares
shimmering teal water curving around white sand beaches, below the
reds, whites and grays of volcanic and metamorphic rock
formations
sea lions barking and splashing near the rocks
the white ibis and a white faced ibis, frigate birds, black-crowned
night herons, two blue herons – one near the shore and one
overhead
a moorhen's red head patch or the inflated pouch on a male frigatebird’s
neck
If you’ve ever looked closely at the knuckles or barnacles of gray whales, the eye of a blue or humpback, the narae (nostrils/blow hole) of these sea mammals, if you’ve ever had your breath taken away by an upward nighttime glance at Orion’s belt or the gray twinkling iridescence of a backlit whale fin breaking the water’s surface…then you know the inexpressibility, the marvel, the wonder and awe of these magnificent moments. Maybe you can even feel the community that we share with these, our fellow earth residents.
Even without the visual memories that my photographs from this week provide, I have a heart full of imprinted experiences: dolphins riding our ship’s bow, the reality that the humpback’s song was “live” in our moment of listening to him, the greatness of earth’s largest creature (the blue whale) gracing us with her presence… For all these outer gifts of beauty (color, texture and experience) have come for me the blessings of inner peace and stillness.
Stillness & Movement in Baja
As I download my photos each morning and evening of this trip, I see a pattern emerging; colors begin to look kaleidoscopic while textures appear as an intricately woven tapestry. The warp (the strong vertical threads) is the foundation of a weaving; our experience here seems to be constructed of the assuredness of a sunrise and sunset each day and of the spontaneous but expected whale sightings in this region. The “weft” of a weaving is the horizontal threads woven into a tapestry; among these great daily cycles of whale encounters this week are woven the whale behaviors, the various species of whales we see. To add a special richness to this experience are the threads that shimmer: light on water, the edge where water meets land. What I find as I look at my photographs is that the outer movements and miracles here have created a spectacular stillness within me. Here are some examples of the miracles in Baja while among the “great whales”:
the green flash just prior to sunrise or sunset
a precise timing and quantity of rainfall that stimulate the desert into
bloom
the red and gray camouflage markings of a rock lizard
the sound of a blue whale’s exhalation
a simmering in the salt water that is evidence of a feeding school of
common dolphins
the soft spray of a gray whale mama’s breath
pelicans, cormorants and a yellow footed gull circling overhead
Costa’s hummingbirds and verdins darting among desert vegetation
the serenade of a cactus wren in the midmorning splendor
the “talons” of a cholla cactus and the basketry potential of a leather plant
cardon (“not a saguaro”) and palo adan (similar to an ocotillo) gracing the
desert floor
the tender, playful rolling and bubble-blowing of calf and mama grays
as they engage in thigmotactic delight
breaching, spy-hopping, fluke smacks of our baleen fellow mammals
dashing and darting, leaping and smacking of dolphins
the thickly tangled but sturdy roots of red, white and black mangroves
stretching into the saltwater
a bat, lizards, crabs and brittle stars adding more texture and nubs to this
time and these places
the playfulness of us visiting humans as we make up terms like “flukette”
and “breach party”, “phenorkytoodeling”, as well as the ‘creative history’ of words like “burrito”
the heartwrenching harmonies of humpback whales
an up-close look at dolphin and whale nares
shimmering teal water curving around white sand beaches, below the
reds, whites and grays of volcanic and metamorphic rock
formations
sea lions barking and splashing near the rocks
the white ibis and a white faced ibis, frigate birds, black-crowned
night herons, two blue herons – one near the shore and one
overhead
a moorhen's red head patch or the inflated pouch on a male frigatebird’s
neck
If you’ve ever looked closely at the knuckles or barnacles of gray whales, the eye of a blue or humpback, the narae (nostrils/blow hole) of these sea mammals, if you’ve ever had your breath taken away by an upward nighttime glance at Orion’s belt or the gray twinkling iridescence of a backlit whale fin breaking the water’s surface…then you know the inexpressibility, the marvel, the wonder and awe of these magnificent moments. Maybe you can even feel the community that we share with these, our fellow earth residents.
Even without the visual memories that my photographs from this week provide, I have a heart full of imprinted experiences: dolphins riding our ship’s bow, the reality that the humpback’s song was “live” in our moment of listening to him, the greatness of earth’s largest creature (the blue whale) gracing us with her presence… For all these outer gifts of beauty (color, texture and experience) have come for me the blessings of inner peace and stillness.
