creative

Eco-Alianza’s annual gala promises to be a night to remember. Celebrating 18 years of environmental education and outreach, the Gala, known as one of the ‘best parties in Loreto’, provides support for our on-going programs in education, clean water, sustainable fisheries, scientific exploration and more. Our central focus is the health and sustainability of Loreto and surrounding areas. Once…

For two years, the osprey platform remained empty. A gift from my contractor, a wooden platform with a couple of randomly placed sticks perched above a tall phone-pole like wooden stand to attract the sea-hawk raptor. My belief was that the structure had been placed too close to the water, the hunting grounds for all the other waterfowl, too close for any bird in its right mind to choose as a…

Quietly, I sit on the sand, and watch as the earth turns toward the edge of the eastern horizon, and paints the sky in shades of pink and salmon. The shoreline glistens, replete with wind waves from the evening blow, and the dancing antics of pelicans as they dive for bait fish. I realize this is a refuge, this morning ritual I’ve created of sitting next to the sea. It is here I let my mind…

For the first time since I’ve lived out of the United States, I was able to cast my ballot via the internet. I had requested an online ballot from the County of Orange. The registrar had forwarded a packet that included a statement of oath, swearing to my identity, a digital envelope that matched the type that I had used for mail-in ballots, and the ballot itself. Each was in a PDF format, which…

A day with no swell …. Sometimes there are waves, and sometimes, not so much. Nothing quite as entertaining than a group of surfers after days of a no-show swell, sitting around grousing, as if the ocean gods were punishing them. Of course, we’d all love a consistent flow of rideable fun surf, but then, would we truly appreciate the wonder when the waves show up? When we can say to ourselves…

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Wintry sunrises set the tone for southern Baja mornings. By wintry, meaning the early temperatures hover in the mid-50s and I may need to put on a sweatshirt for my morning walk with Loki. My neighbor, Ernst, without fail, slips into the water for his morning swim. He’ll do this even when the water temps drop into the 60s, somewhere in February. The nine-days of Mexican Christmas are in full…

A storm is brewing. As yet unnamed, but gathering itself together off the coast of Mexico. A hot swirling mass of clouds, interacting, trying to figure out how best to work with one another. What to become? Forecasts now 90%, the chances of becoming a tropical depression, and then a hurricane. Trajectory to skirt the western edge of the Baja, snaking alongside the coastline all the way into…

0-dark-30.  Exactly what time is that? It’s the hour of fishing, or so I’m coming to know.  I’m bobbing on a 23’ boat, the sun hasn’t shown its face, and I’m mentally measuring the distance to shore.  Could I manage to swim in for a cup of really hot coffee?  Why am I here?  Oh, right.  I wanted to learn to fish, and my girlfriend’s husband, Barry, volunteered to teach me.  I stumbled onto his…