We spent two idyllic days wandering up and down Estero San Jose which is the estuary that forms at the mouth of the San Jose river leading into the Sea of Cortez. It is a protected natural area and a bird migration site. I was fascinated by the egret and ibis pictured above. They were clearly companions, although different species, and wherever one went the other followed. They chattered away to each other – did they speak the same language? There were dozens of other birds so they must have chosen to be with each other. Maybe they were saying, “why is that crazy lady following us?”
As usual, I was my husband’s spotter. “Look there is an osprey, a hawk, a pink dragonfly, a moth at your feet (eek), a sand colored butterfly, a great heron”. He went on a solo vacation to Arizona recently and I bet he missed scorpions, coyotes, rare bunnies etc. He doesn’t know how to stalk properly either…I think I will just eat him in the zombie apocalypse.
This is the beautiful mission church of San Jose del Cabo. In this shot you can just see the granitic hills in the background some of which form strange conical shapes. The estuary leading to the sea is to the right and south which gives it that beautiful light. It is a small town with a few very good art galleries in the center. Every Thursday evening there is a art walk with other vendors – the galleries offer drinks and snacks. The original mission church was falling down – it was built in the early 1700s so they rebuilt it in 1972 and made a beautiful job of it.
I had a lovely moment when I went into the church to light a candle for my mum. Unlike most tourists I changed into some conservative clothes so as not to offend the locals. I was disappointed that you had to bring your own candle with you to light – I had noticed them for sale in the local shop but put money in the box and said a prayer anyway. As I exited the church, a yellow butterfly landed on my shoulder and my husband said, “That was your mum telling you not to worry about the candle”. I can feel tears welling up now as I think about that beautiful moment.
I suppose you still want to know about the missionaries? The mission party stuck their nose in the lives of the local native people who lived on the Baja peninsula and dared to tell them that they could only have one wife… They were a feisty tribe and promptly killed not one but two interfering priests. This amazing tile above the church commemorates the murder.
It is the birthing of a new season and the dying of the old. Both exist together as they do with every species. This tree fern has a whiskered texture as the leaves prepare to feed the ground below. Summer is in decay, humidity and heat dissipating likewise the cicada chirps. Autumn is sprinkling it’s magical orange fairy dust as the nights close in.
The Sweet Gum leaves are not ready to surrender to old age and the invasive Tallow bewitches us with it’s exquisite oriental leaves in every season.
Yet, the seasonal food is naturally colored for autumn and contrasts so prettily with the ancient rock and lichen.
Today I went out to our wheeled trash can in the side yard and as I opened the garage door I noticed movement on one of the wheels. As I looked closer two Anole lizards were bumping and grinding like kids on spring break. I swear I could hear Pitbull playing something Spanish, in the background. Feeling a little creepy, I stood and watched them for a while and then silently went back in the house to get my camera. They stayed for ages, plainly exhausted from all their sexual activity, and just lay together, spooning perhaps? Usually you see the green male puffing out his red throat piece, saying, “look at this big one, ladies”, just like guys at clubs. Frankly, I feel a little envious and middle-aged…isn’t nature amazing?
My husband managed to get this wonderful shot of me whispering to a dragonfly in the containment pond that is close to our house. My fear of moths does not extend to dragonflies which is lucky as they seem to like me. Dragonflies are fast little predators so they have little to fear but birds on the wing. It was as hot as Hades today – the pond and its wild surrounds were alive with all types of Dragonflies. Golden, red, amber, periwinkle, green striped, black, indigo, all flitting about looking for insects. In my imagination they are little fairies. They fly really close to humans because we attract mosquitoes and probably are drawn to our sweat. It was a beautiful moment on a perfect day.
Last summer I was out in the front yard when I noticed a commotion in my neighbor’s yard. Mr. Fluffs, our elderly feral street cat, was very interested in some activity. My neighbor’s dogs were barking through the window at the cat so I walked over to see what was going on, just as the householder came out. She was then dive-bombed by a very small titmouse who was screeching at us, the cat, the dogs and anyone else who was preventing her catching her lunch. ‘Lunch’, mortally wounded, fell to the ground under a tree. Neither of us could figure out what it was because it was bright green and looked like a leaf. When I got close, I screeched (along with the angry titmouse) as it was a gigantic moth or butterfly. It looked bigger than the tiny predator. I ran inside and got my camera to evidence the titmouse’s lunch. As I have mentioned in older blogs, I have no fear of lions, tigers or bears but moths will send me screaming off in a panic. As soon as the photograph was taken we all retreated, including Mr. Fluffs and the titmouse finally got it’s prey (a Luna Moth). At this stage, Mr. Fluffs was geriatric and had lived in the street for at least 10 years. This was the most animated I had seen him in years. It was hard to imagine who would let loose a beautiful Himalayan cat but perhaps they lost him? In his retirement one of our other neighbors took over his care, fed him, took him to the veterinarian and brushed him lovingly. He suddenly became ill and like many cats disappeared off to die. We searched all over our area but it is dense brush and forest and impossible to find a cat that wanted his grave to remain secret. Our house backs onto the reserve and I asked the neighbor who looked after him to go up my ladder and shout for him. At the top of the ladder, she let out a scream because she saw a Momma skunk and her two babies just sauntering around ‘over the hedge’. This is what happens when you live in a forest… Below is a lovely photograph I took of Mr. Fluffs basking in the sunshine at the back of our garden. The reserve, with it’s colony of sexy female cats, skunks, snakes, raccoons and a not very dry creek, is right behind him.
I wrote this letter to friends and family in 2010 and I have left it in the present tense to allow you to be in the moment. In the end I raised over a thousand dollars which I donated to a Houston charity that gives free mammograms to those in need.Youtube linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDcYSls9F8s
Most of you know that I decided to shave my head in aid of a breast cancer charity. I was going to do the deed on my 50th birthday in July but I didn’t get the reaction I expected from most of my friends and family. Given my various health issues, I can understand that you thought I had lost my mind! I brought the date forward to prevent any intervention, more tears or concern – especially on my birthday! Click on the link to read the whole story, see the video and progression of hair being shaved. Kerry is bald – click here
Isn’t she beautiful? I noticed some bird poop on our driveway and thought it might be one of our many mockingbirds or grackles. It was silent, however, and neither of those are quiet birds… We have a large conifer and one of the branches sits above the driveway into the garage. It was hard to see anything but then I spotted something tiny in a little nest. I recognized that it was a little mourning dove. All doves and pigeons keep their babies in the nest until they are almost full grown which is why you rarely see baby doves. It was so adorable and this is from someone who had to work very hard to get over a bird phobia. On one trip to Monaco, I had to leave early and sit on the bus because I couldn’t stand all the feral pigeons. I zoomed the camera when I noticed Mama in the nest but it was only when I downloaded the photo that I saw there was twins!! Can we have a baby shower? We had an inkling that babies would be coming because we couldn’t sleep at night for all the sexual cooing. It is surprising that such small birds can make so much noise!
When I visited the Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve the warden told me that he shot and ate Mourning Doves. I laughed at him, as there isn’t much eating on these little critters. You should see the wood pigeons in Scotland. They as big as a fat chicken with beautiful iridescent plumage with shades of gray, purple and green. Now they would make a decent meal… I am glad our Egyptian cats are geriatric and now inside pusses, as the national dish of Egypt is Pigeon.
Postcards from Kerry 