6 dolphins in 2 days... or 3 on two occasions?

It's Saturday and we are watching a silly movie on tv (Hancock). Everardo now only has Monday & Thursday off so our weekends are changing a little bit. I went today to Ensenada and took our friend Tim with me to the AA meeting. (Tim is Iggy the dog's poppa) Before his job, Saturday was our "go to town" day- ha ha we sound like farmers! But I wanted to go to the meeting to see a couple of friends and hit a grocery store that doesn't have gringo prices ha ha.

Anyway I came back and it was such a beautiful day I decided to do my full workout (weights and dancing on the beach), and the dogs were very happy about that. It was 3pm- yeah it's about 45 min each way to the meeting, then the store...so I left at 11am and got home at 3pm. Takes a big chunk, but then I was afraid I'd lay on the couch, watch a movie...and start snacking....and did I say it was beautiful outside? This morning I took the dogs down to the water and threw the ball in the waves for about 40 minutes so got them pooped out early (yes guilt cause I was leaving them all day). So I just changed and headed for the gym, then the beach. They were happy and ran right back into the water. The red tide was not there today-even though yesterday it was here in full force and the water looks so dark and yucky when it's here. I'm hearing last summer it all summer, every day- so I guess this is good. The other good thing is that even when it is here, like yesterday, I simply walked way down the beach and it ended- so it's not the whole length of the beach.

And it's only in the waves; beyond where the waves develop, the water seems even more aquamarine, like a lighter green for just a band, not too wide, and then back to normal blue or blue green. And the dolphins still come. I am hearing we shouldn't eat and shellfish right now...but that's ok because we don't eat much shellfish. We have started eating more fresh fish however...but I don't think the red tide affects the fish.

On Thursday I saw 3 dolphins playing in the surf, just beyond the wave break. They come in so close, and I don't think I've seen 3 together before, usually just 1 or 2. I can just sit and watch them forever- even though I just see a fin, or a back....sometimes a jump. Then last nite, Friday, just before dark Everardo yelled for me to come out with the binoculars. Again it was 3...but this time they were zooming around in circles, jumping almost all the way out of the water! It was so totally cool!!

Yeah, I look at this little mobile home, this little trailer, all beat up under new paint, floor sagging in places, in 2 places bad enough that we don't walk there...rusty faucets in the bathrooms, but then moments later I walk outside. To my left is the beach and to my right is the estuary and it's winding paths, some more sandy than others. Cactus and spiny bushes...where Hazel runs and jumps, scaring lizards and the occasional rabbit. The squirrels that play this dare devil game and dash across the street in front of cars (I swear they're making bets). The coyotes that howl sometimes at nite, that we see once in a while trotting along the side of the road. Back to the beach side, with the long long stretches of beach in either direction from our place, not too many people; maybe a few more on the weekends, renting one of the houses or another in one of the camps here. Dolphins, seals, sea lions, whales- I have seen them all, up close and personal since we moved to this tiny trailer. I can sit in my chair overlooking the beach and feel such serenity, such peace. I can talk to my higher power, the universe, talk thru anything, and maybe I won't figure it out that minute, but I always feel better. I remember to ask for guidance, for support, and then I simply try to keep my mind open for...for...for inspiration, for intuition. And later, maybe sooner maybe longer, I start to find the answer, the resolution...or at least a baby step. I get all that here. So my tiny beat up house is paradise.

I'll probly see a dolphin tomorrow morning with my coffee. The whales are gone for until maybe November...and maybe the sea lions as well...no- some live here, but many were just here for the "season". I just read an article about Pier 39 in San Francisco where tons of sea lions hang out and bark and beg from the tourists- it's a big thing for people who visit SF to see all the sea lions down at Pier 39. So the article was saying 'where are all the sea lions?' Well the answer was they went south, as far as Mexico to breed. Then the males go back up and are all gone by early July. So I'm thinking maybe Bob the sea lion was from San Francisco. Maybe that's why we had a connection! I'm from that area.....just a few miles north...

So maybe I'll see a seal or a sea lion. Oh and the pelicans are much scarcer now as well. They must migrate down for the winter- there were so many and I fell in love with them. Now just one or two, and sometimes I don't see any for days at a time. Maybe I'll find a really cool shell. We have some that I want to figure out what lived in them. They are a round triangle, some are pretty large, tall, and some are shiny, almost translucent.....

Or maybe I'll just see sailboats, or fishing boats. There are 2 or 3 tankers way out there and have been there going on 2 weeks. 2 are empty..and one is full up with containers. I don't know what they are waiting for. Are they picking up containers? Or fuel? I don't know. Oh and the fishing boat that washed ashore this past weekend finally left yesterday. The guy told us he was drunk and somehow it got loose.....ha ha. He kept waiting for high tides- all week! The yesterday I saw a tractor down there, digging a trench from the boat to the water's edge. I thought- well that is dumb- when the tide comes in that trench will fill up with water....it won't float out. But it wasn't for that- someone brought in a trailer and backed up in that trench and slid the boat onto it. The guy was so laid back, it was kinda funny that he simply sat out there every day....people would come by and chat, of course everyone had advice- nature of the beast....altho not us- at least not until we were out of earshot ha ha.

The weather is so so so much like Petaluma! That's about 40 miles north of San Francisco, where we lived before here. Summer mornings with fog, overcast, then it burns off, or not....But here it is warmer. It was overcast in the morning, burned off, and then started cooling off about 6pm and I found I was cold. However, by cold I mean I put my slippers on- I'm still wearing a tank top. I am certainly the tannest (is that a word or is it "the most tan"?) I have ever been and I'm not trying. In fact I am using sunscreen number 50! I usually walk pretty early in the morning before it's very hot, but still....ok I was thinking something funny about the sunscreen- and I'm sure it's not true: I can just see the store with a huge vat of "cream" and then plastic tubes and bottle of body lotion, lotion for extra dry skin, lotion with "aloe" or "vitamin E" or something, and sunscreen for numbers 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, 40, 50.....and they just fill everything up from the same vat...slap different prices on different items....Remember that stuff your mom put on your nose that was bright white and didn't wash off when you went in the pool? I guess sunscreen has come a long way. I will say this- the only day I got any sunburn was the first day I stayed outside all day with Bob the sea lion and had no sunscreen on- hmmm ok so I guess maybe it is what it says it is. And I didn't mean that funny thing because it's Mexico- I mean that anywhere.   

ok enough for now. Bastante.

Week in review

It's only Thursday nite, but it's been a nice few days -altho' started out kinda hinky....Monday morning we went first thing into Ensenada to finish off my application for permanent residence. It went so smoothly! I kinda hopped out in glee....the other people waiting looked at me with a little bit of envy I think. Everardo said all the women were wishing they had married Mexicans ha ha. We had gone down there the first week of June and found out everything I needed; we had to get an apostille in Spanish for our wedding certificate (in Acapulco they simply let Everardo sit down and copy the one we have in English, but here it had to be official). We went to breakfast while they processed it and I had chilaquilles...yum. The other letters I had to write I copied what I had from Puerto Penasco and just changed relevant info like address and dates....

When we took it all to her she read it all and looked at Everardo and asked him if he helped me write the letters! Ha ha! He laughed and told her I copied them (in Penasco they wrote them for me and had me sign them, so I was pretty sure they were what I needed). Everything else was in order, but you can not apply for the next thing until it's almost your expiration date, so we had to wait until this week. Did I say it takes an hour to get there? That will matter in a few minutes.

Everardo started working out at the Bufadora last week. He started on Tuesday, while I was beginning my adventure with Bob the sea lion. He's a "seller". He works at someone's booth, and then gets commission on whatever he sells (based on sell price). I think he also gets paid if he goes early to help set up or stays late to break it down- which they must do every single day. I know I have written about the Bufadora before; it's a huge blowhole in some rocks at the ocean. So this place is just past the bay we live on, sitting along the Pacific. You walk down this narrow street to get there, and it is lines with booths, vendors selling everything you can think of. Tiny margaritas are given away free, and I believe other drinks as well. Lots of other food, candies, nuts, and these amazing breads- my favorite is the one that is a round loaf the size of a pizza but thicker, with sugar sprinkled on top and stuffed with a gooey cheese. There are lots of other types to choose from but I remain loyal... Anyway the place is noisy and chaotic on busy days- which are any days the cruise ships are in port in Ensenada, which is every day except Monday & Thursday. Hence, our trip was on Monday this week.

So we got down there and I felt lucky- only two names ahead of mine, and one did not respond when called, so our turn came up quickly. Everything was in order, so we walked out ten minutes later, a paper stating my application was in process in my hand; I had to turn in my temp visa (FM2 or 3 or whatever it was...) so this paper would keep me out of hot water if need be. Like I said, I think I skipped a little on the way out. She had told us to check in two weeks, that by then it should be all processed, so I would return and give my fingerprints....then in about another two weeks the card would show up. I signed so many pieces of paper I commented it was like buying a house, and she replied that yeah- but after this I would never have to do it again- the permanent residence had no expiration- it was good for forever! Did I say I skipped? Happily?

Silly silly me. In Mexico (and I know know know this)- In Mexico if it is not in your hand- you have nothing. We went and did our weekly grocery shopping and errands that used to be a Saturday thing, and went home. About 3pm the phone rings and it is immigration.They want me to come back and show a picture id with my name before I married my husband. WHAT?? I have no such document. I didn't bring old driver licenses or old passports with me....they are in my safety deposit box, and only because I am a bit of a hoarder ha ha. I like my old passport because it has so many stamps in it from all the places I've been. Africa, China, Thailand, France, Russia, Jordan, Egypt, Japan, Hong Kong, oh and Mexico...anyway I liked to look at it- maybe them, this may be over 2 passports. Regardless...I don't have them here. I gave the phone to Everardo, who repeated my question- what if we'd been married for 10 years, would you be asking. So the lady was very nice and said, just come back tomorrow morning and I'll help you write a little letter and you can sign it. Oh. Ok

So Tuesday morning we went first out to the Bufadora to tell Everardo's new boss he was gonna be late. She asked him to hurry because her other helper, her son, wasn't there that day, either. Ok ok. So back to Ensenada, an hour each way, and we didn't have to wait in line because we asked for Anna, the woman who had called and she came right out. I brought with me a couple of old business cards and a gas card I found that had my old name, but no picture. She said it was fine and said she'd write the letter for me and be right back. Ten minutes and she was back, letter in hand. We both read it....same words as my other letters, except for the specifics...I signed, we all shook hands again, and we went home- well I did, and Poppi went to work. Ok I changed and walked down to the gym house and started my workout, using my phone as a weights timer, and it rang. Immigration who wants me to come down right away, hoy. It's all in Spanish but I understand and reply in Spanish I was already there, I signed a letter with my name prior to my marriage to my Mexican husband. She puts me on hold.....comes back. Ok have a nice day. I finish and go to the beach to dance, take a shower...etc. I notice I have missed a call. Guess who? Immigration ha ha. I am unable to explain sufficiently and ask if I can call right back. I call Everardo who calls the wrong number (ha ha) and calls me to say I gave him the number of a bakery! I call again....blah blah blah...and they insist to him I provide picture id of who I was before I married him. Now the freakin' apostille is for EXACTLY that....but not good enough. Finally (as I think well someone will have to send me something and I am praying I put someone on my safety deposit box so they can go get something (the driver license might be somewhere in my stuff in the attic of the house up there....but where?). And then the woman asks if I have a birth certificate. YES!! But a copy only. That's ok bring it. However it does not have the name I had when I married Everardo...because I was using my ex husband's name......aaarrgghh. Ok so Everardo left work and...we drove the hour back up there.  And.....they accepted it! And they must have stamped it with that "yes we saw the original, made a copy and gave the applicant back their original" stamp.....

Wow long story and probly boring, right? So the moral of the story is: (remember??) In Mexico, if you don't have it in your hand, you have nothing. Well- they haven't called again so I think it was all submitted...fingers crossed.

Ha ha I said this was a nice week. But it was nice. After we left there we went to the movies and ate buttered popcorn -well and he ate nachos. Then yesterday morning, Wednesday I went to my first meeting of a meditation group, liked it, and next week I'll go to the afternoon group (they alternate and the morning group is just 5 or 6 people but the afternoon is closer to 15-20). I had just started reading and trying to listen to the cds for "The Eight Steps to Happiness" which is a ThaiBuddhist meditation, and apparently the guy who leads the afternoon group also practices the Thai Buddhist way, so I am very excited about that. I had started going to a Buddhist meditation center a few months before we left for Mexico and like it very much; I asked in there what I could do to continue on my own and they showed me the 8 Steps book. ha ha Only took me 2 years to get back to it. But very cool that right when I did start going back, a new friend of mine mentioned that she attended!
I came home from that, did my exercise routine, took the dogs to the beach to throw the ball into the waves for them, then Poppi came home, we had a nice dinner and I topped it off with an AA meeting. I am sooooo loving my life right now.

Today was more of the same. Everardo was home (no cruise ships on Thursday) and while he was out I did my exercise, then later we took the dogs to the beach and walked way down to where a sailboat had torn loose from it's anchor the other nite and floated into shore. It's been stuck there for days, and yesterday I saw a line of people trying to push or pull it in some way...there were also a couple of trucks on the beach, but today it was still there. When we got there this guy in a beach chair cheerfully waved to us, and said maybe in tonite's high tide he would make his escape. He was so cheerful! He's been sitting with the boat for days; I think he is Philippine (his accent) and he told us he's just been here for a month, but loves the weather (yeah me too). Walked back, chatted with our friend who has Iggy the dog, had another nice dinner, took an after dinner walk by the estuary...I mean yeah, my life is so good. Poppi has started steaming huge pots of veges and then we usually eat beans- and I love the black beans- or a small amount of meat. Feels good.

I feel like I am being true to myself. I want to grow spiritually, and I want to work on me physically, mentally and spiritually and I want to be healthier. I am 5 years clear of cancer and I always complain if Everardo wants to use insecticide or I want organic veges....and yet I am overweight. I read in several articles that avoiding recurrence of cancer includes eating right, being healthy...and maintaining a healthy weight. I made a commitment to myself that I wrote out, attainable goals over a long period. I am about to finish 3 months (of 12 initially) and I am meeting my goals. That feels good. Of course I am anal about making little lists and schedules. So I broke a year down into a week. Did I already write about this? Well I'll tell it quick. I divided 365 days by 5 for Monday thru Friday. So each day of the week is 73 days. And the reason is: I can do anything for a week. Right now I am in Tuesday, Wednesday starts some time in August. But for me- it works. I was surprised to day when I realized I am on Tuesday already! In fact I took it a little further and broke the days into morning and afternoon (told you I was anal). So I am actually in Tuesday afternoon now. Like I said, I can do anything for a week.

The one thing I need to be better at is my Spanish study. I do know I am waaaaaay better....and I try to talk to people wherever we go...but I need to do my basic computer work as well. Writing here helps me affirm to myself, to recommit.

I will say this. I can always do better. I said some very mean things to someone, in facebook private msg. I lost my temper at someone for saying some mean things, some very wrongs things and I felt attacked. I felt my family was attacked, and so I went on the offensive. Ha ha justified anger. It cannot be for me. The fact is every single thing I said (wrote) was true, but it was in anger, meant to hurt, and it probly did. I was right....but I was wrong to do it. This was early this week...but no excuses. So yesterday, thankful for what I receive from meditation and from AA, I sent a msg and apologized for my unkind words. I didn't try to justify or anything. Just said regardless of the situation I was wrong to say mean things and I apologized. Then I said I would not contact them again so they would know I did  not expect (or want) a reply. I feel like I did the right thing, and I think it goes to my feeling of well being. Yeah I mess up, but I am getting so much better at stopping myself, or at least making an amends right away.

So tomorrow? Well my plan is to get up and exercise, work on Spanish, meditate, take my dogs to the beach, oooh start a new book, hit a meeting. Hmmm sounds like today....yesterday.....yeah.......

Spending my week with an injured sea lion "Bob"

This past week went by so fast and at the same time seems like it was so long and so long ago. But I will never again walk the beach without thinking about Bob the sea lion. On Tuesday morning Everardo came bursting in the door and yelled for me to grab the camera to take pictures of a sea lion on the beach who seemed content to sit and not be scared off. I had been about to go on my exercise morning dancing/walk down the beach with the dogs so I was almost ready to go. It was about 9:30 or 10am, and we went back to where Poppi saw it, and it was still sitting there. But he sagged, and decided to lay down. We thought maybe he was injured or sick and came to shore to die, but I had never seen that; always before they were dead when they hit the beach.

I took some shots of Everardo next to him, and he reached out and touched his back- the sea lion looked at him but didn't leave or lash out or anything like that. I felt kinda funny (funny wierd not funny ha ha) taking his picture if he was going to die, but I did it. Then Everardo took the camera and I walked further up the beach starting my exercise. I had planned to exercise way up the beach because in front of our place we were having red tide, and it was so yucky.Ok here's what I found on google:

Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom (large concentrations of aquatic microorganisms) when it is caused by a few species of dinoflagellates and the bloom takes on a red or brown color. Red tides are events in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column, resulting in coloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas.

Some red tides can be toxic, but here apparently it is not. I say "apparently" because it was what I was told....but I get told lots of things here that do not turn out to be the case ha ha. However I seen birds in the water all week and people fishing both on the shore and from fishing boats, (oh and lots of digs) so I think it is probably true- that the red tide here is not toxic. It makes the both the water and the shore ugly, filled with so much yucky stuff, and it stunk as well. I really didn't want the dogs swimming in because it was stinky and then they'd need a shower after, so I walked way up the beach to do my exercise routine.

So- my hour was almost up and I was dancing my way back towards the sea lion. My intention was to stop and see him again, and then...what? I don't know. So I came up to him, and leaned in and talked to him softly. Asked him how he felt, talked about how pretty the sky was, whatever came into my tiny brain. And then...... a single tear fell from his eye and rolled down his face. I simply sat down next to him. I started crying as well. I told him how sorry I was. I could not leave him. As it turns out I stayed with him from about 11am until 6pm. A woman came down from her house right behind us, just a little while after I sat down; she had actually seen the sea lion the nite before, just before dark. Her name was Meena she told me, and she said she saw him in the very shallow water near the shore and had tried to get him to go back out in the ocean, but he didn't go. Then in the morning the tide had gone out so he was out of the water, sitting & laying in the sand. By then I had already reached out to him, and touched his head, which seemed to be ok. So I was stroking and petting him and talking to him. She began to do the same thing....and she and I began to talk.

Well as it turned out my husband had talked to a guy he saw working by another house near the sea lion and got that guy to call PROFETA, which is a federal group responsible for the shoreline and came to tell us they would be there soon. I knew I was not leaving this poor baby. (yeah we thought it was a she, and very young because she was not huge- at least not as huge as a sea lion can be. Later we found out he was a he, and about 8 years old). Both Meena and I waited for PROFETA, who showed up about 2:30...yeah so not all that "soon". Well by then the tide has started to come up, and that's when we saw the blood. Not a lot, just a thin stream that seemed to pool a little down by his "feet" and would wash away each time the waves came in. These were small waves, they didn't cover him, but he needed to keep raising his head. The PROFETA guy took alot of photos and they talked on the phone, and decided with our input that he had an injury under one of his front flippers. Then he said this other group was coming, marine mammals people or something, but they would wait for them. I said, ok well I am going to go home and change my clothes and come back, and Meena thought that was a good idea so she did it too. I told him to pet our baby and talk to her...he said of course- that they cared about him. So I went home and took a shower as fast as I could, and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I hadn't eaten all day. I got back about the same time as Meena, and then, to my surprise...kinda....they told us they had to leave to another problem area, but don't worry, the people would be there soon. Luckily I got his phone number.

About 4:30 still nobody had come and we were worried the offices would close so we called them. They guy said oh yeah- let me call them so call me back in a minute. I called back and he said sorry, everyone is too busy, they will come tomorrow. I got mad and said maybe he won't make it! He hung up on me. Well the tide went back out, and then there was no more blood. My husband called me about 6pm and told me to come home. I told our baby I loved him and he would be ok, and I went home. Meena stayed with him until almost dark. The next morning Everardo went out around 8am and checked, came back and told me he was still alive so I went down to sit with him. Around 9:30 a truck drove up and a lady got out and took some more pictures. She was from the marine mammal people- so I tok a picture of her truck door that had a logo on it. She got on the phone, and then told me (all in Spanish) that a veterinarian was coming soon. Then she left. Well I sat back down to talk and pet my baby sea lion, knowing it might be hours. So I was very surprised when another truck showed up on the beach around 11:30. It was PROFETA again, but they had a woman with them who turned out to be the vet- her name was Alejandra. She spoke pretty good English and asked me to tell her everything I knew from the moment it started and to not leave out any details.

So I told her, and then Meena showed up. (we decided I was early shift and she was late shift).  Alejandra told us after looking carefully, that first, she was a he. Then that he was about 8 years old and we could tell that by his fur around his nose and mouth beginning to turn white, and that the tuft of hair/fur on the very top of his head was something a male developed after about 5 years of age. Females do not have it. Then she showed us some marks on his back and said she believed he was caught in a fishing net for an extended period and that was one reason he was so fatigued. But there was something else. We had told her that the nite before, when he was still in the surf, he had what we called convulsions, but she called seizures. We thought he was dying when that happened "death throes" Meena called it, and she and I hugged and cried as we thought it was the end. But then he had calmed down. Alejandra said that he was poisoned by fish who had eaten in a "yellow tide" further north, and that it wasn't toxic to the fish, but it was to mammals. (I think that's how she put it). That our red tide was ok, but yellow was not. That it could cause seizures, and death. So she gave him a shot, of an antibiotic called domoic acid to fight off the poison. (Meena later googled it and said the symptons fit our baby boy exactly). So in the end I think Alejandra saved him, but I believe our constant comfort made a big difference. Then Alejandra told us to go home and let Bob sleep. That he needed to heal.
Oh she also said the blood was from these tiny sea "creatures" that bite at the wounds on sea life...and yeah they were biting at our feet and ankles....and that why he stopped bleeding after the tide went down. She told us it would be better if he stayed on the shore. We did not go home right away; we stayed with him and chatted with each other. When the tide came back up...he went in it! We tried to push him towards shore but he wasn't having any. But he was so weak, he could barely hold his head up when the waves came, but he let us, carefully hold his head up. The tide finally started to go back out. It got late and I went home, but Meena stayed, and she made Bob a pillow out of kelp ha ha, but we think it helped.
I forgot to say when Alejandra first came she warned us about touching him; that if he was healthy he would never do that, that maybe he was carrying a disease, could we at least wear gloves since we would not stop petting him?? haha. I think the first lady told her- that woman was shocked when she saw me sitting so close, talking to him and stroking his head, scratching his neck and belly when he sat up and stretched toward me.He nuzzled my arm many times. I didn't put my face in close for a nuzzle, but my dog Hazel did, and they touched noses. Sam sniffed around Bob with concern, and Bob was ok with it. He knew we cared about him, Meena and I and the dogs. Both days people wandered by and sometimes stopped for a minute but never got as close as we did. Oh and I also forgot to say that the Mexican guys that worked nearby named him Bob so we thought that was cute and Bob he stayed- I had been calling him Baby Boy and Meena was calling him Hefalump...so Bob was a good choice.

So anyway we had no intention of leaving Bob or not touching him. He leaned into us, he looked in our eyes. Oh and I googled sea lions; they don't actually cry. The have tear ducts that let tears flow to keep salt out of their eyes. They can be out of the water for a couple of weeks, that they can go a week without eating, that they can hold their breath for at least 15 minutes and maybe twice that long according the the article you read. That they can close and seal their noses to keep water out. That they swim about 10-12 miles an hour but can do a short spurt at 25 miles an hour.

Ok- Thursday morning. I get there and Bob is sleeping. Like a deep sleep. Actaully the nite before when Meena made the pillow he was sleeping and snoring! So we think the medicine broke the fever- or the poison, and then he could sleep- like when you are really sick and you toss and turn, but when the fever finally breaks you fall into a deep sleep? So I sat there for a while, but decided to do my exercise and let him sleep. Later I returned and Meena was there, but she had done the same as me...watched him and then left. Then I had to go to Ensenada with Everardo but about 3pm Meena called me to tell me Bob was in the surf and rolling over and over, sitting up, but not leaving. When I got back it was almost 5pm, and we watched him do this until about 6:30. We found out it was how he cooled himself off. Meena had called Alejandra, whom i had spoken to early in the morning to report on Bob's condition. Alejandra couldn't come but said she's come back on Friday and give him another shot. She said she could only come with PROFETA- it is the Mexican law, that they have to document and "direct" her even though she is doing the analysis and the work. She is a volunteer, and told us how they really want a rehab center for the injured animals like Bob, but here in Mexico it is hard to get the funding. She was very happy that we were helping Bob, and after the first day didn't bother to lecture us that we needed gloves- she knew we loved Bob and that was that.

Well about 6:30 Bob finally stopped playing in the water and lay down. We decided to go home, so we both told him we loved him and see him later. Then Bob surprised us and made us each soooo happy. When we said goodbye, he turned around and took some silly sea lion steps towards us and stretched his neck out to us, and nuzzled each of our arms. Now that made me cry. Meena told me earlier when she came and he was asleep that she sat nearby and he opened his eyes and moved closer to her! Pretty cool eh? Then after he nuzzled us, he turned back so he was looking at the water, and laid down. We went home...and as I got a little further away I looked back and saw hin walk up the beach out of the water and throw himself down. Later a woman knocked on Meena's door to say she thought the sea lion was dead- Meena hurried out, but Bob was back in a deep sleep. She called me to tell me, but we decided he had recovered alot, had a good play, and was now exhausted and needed the sleep.

Friday morning I headed out- Bob was gone! I found out that meena had gotten up at 5:30 am to pee and looked out her window and he was still there, but by 8am he was gone, gone with tide.This was a good thing, a great thing!! But I was as sad as I was happy. Hmmm what had we done in our lives before Bob? Meena felt the same. But what a gift. What a gift to be able to be in service to another living thing. To comfort him. I know he knew we were there to help. I know he came to know us. I know he appreciated us being there. I know we helped to save his life. He certainly changed my life. How lucky I nothing else to do so I could spend 3 days with this beautiful animal, comfort him when he was hurting and probly scared. Cheer him on. How cool was all that..I am so lucky, I always think that!

Well- later we found out something that initially pissed me off, and Meena was so upset, but I have changed my mind about it now. She found out that a guy who works for this camp...like a maintenance guy, walked out early in the morning with this dog named Lucas. Well Bob knew Hazel and Sam and was very comfortable with them; I believe they communicated with each other thru looks and noses ha ha. But I guess Lucas scared Bob awake, and lunged at him, and Bob jumped up and ran into the ocean and was gone. I was so mad that it had ended that way. I wanted to wave goodbye to Bob as he disappeared in the surf, raising a flipped (yeah right?). But after thinking about it for awhile- Meena and I agreed it was a good thing- because around here the sea lion does not have alot of friends. I'm sorry to say that the fishermen shoot them! Yeah shoot them! Because they are in competition for the fish. It is illegal of course...but that doesn't mean too much. So Bob being comfortable around people would not be a good thing. So it is what it is. Funny I miss Bob. Meena and I have emailed each other a few times and will trade pictures that we both took as he got steadily better. Alejandra was sooo happy. She thanked us profusely and told us to keep her number. We thanked her for caring and helping Bob. I'm hoping Meena and I find some other common ground- maybe simply a cup of coffee, but you kinda get to know someone spending 3 straight days with them, you know- but sometimes it's like when you take a class and really get along with someone, and then it's over and you never talk to them again. It could be a Spanish class we found may end up being available to us right here in this camp neighborhood, so we'll see. Oh and the red tide is gone- for now anyway.....yipee.

So...this is the story of Bob the sea lion. I feel like I left out a million details, all my emotions, trying to get him to turn around in the surf, feeling protective, laughing at his antics, learning about sea lions, my initial sadness and feeling so helpless, wanting to punch the next person in the face who said...it's life....and walk away. And really? How many people get to have a relationship- however brief, with a sea lion. I like writing about here, because trying to tell people out loud felt weird somehow...like I was saying "look at me-look what I'm doing" when what I was trying to say was about how cool Bob was, what he looked like, what he felt like, how he moved, how he breathed, being able to be part of it. Does that make sense? I love you Bob. I hope you swim far from these damn fishing nets, catch tons of fish, roll and jump and play. Catch ya on the flip side!