Home and Home

I am on a journey -- a journey half-way across this great country, the United States of America.  A quick four hour flight takes me from one landscape to another, from one terrain to another, from one collection of flora and fauna to another, from the crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas, from where I now call home to where I grew up.   

 

 







I left my home on the Oregon coast this morning in a light drizzle with the constant sound of the surf accompanying the call of the seagulls gliding by my windows.  This afternoon I will arrive in Kansas where with the threat of a thunderstorm the rain may fall in buckets amid the sound of rolling thunder and flashes of lightning to give way to a glorious sunset over a rain drenched landscape.    Oregon and Kansas.

 

Home and home.  

Breakfast with the Whales

This morning my husband I were treated to bright blue sky, dark blue ocean, and the sun glinting off the stark white surf!  All this magnificence on the Oregon Coast in late December!  This is an is courtesy of unexpected and glorious Christmas gift for all of us beach dwellers.

As we sat enjoying our breakfast while relishing the clear blue sky and the ocean views, we were treated to yet another unexpected and happen-chance sight:  the spouts of whales just off shore!  There must have been a pod of whales enjoying their breakfast at the same time as we were enjoying ours.  Needless to say, we lingered over our eggs and toast just a bit longer than usual.  The whales, judging by the movement of the spouts, seemed to linger over their breakfast a bit too, before moving onto the work of their day.

So the whales (probably gray whales) are making their annual migration from the cold Alaskan waters to the warm waters of Baja just in time for "Whale Watch Week" along the Oregon Coast.  Isn't it great that they timed everything so perfectly.

Gray Whale

Welcome tourists to the Oregon Coast.  Enjoy "our" whales. 

We Call Them "The Boys"!

After traveling to various exotic places around the world, it is always good to come home for awhile to take in the uniqueness and experience again the sights and sounds of home.  One of those sights and sounds indigenous to the Oregon coast is afforded to us from time to time by the California sea lions.

California Sea Lions

These huge mammals glide through the waters of Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon, where they make their home between mating seasons in Baja Califnornia,  searching for those unwary salmon on which they love to dine.  Once satiated, the "boys" as we like to call them, head for a favorite rock outcropping or a dock in the bay where they can loll about and sun themselves.  The sunning, however, takes second place to the featured activity--establishing and maintaining hard-fought territory on those rocks and docks.

Gaining a foot--or flipper hold--on a dock or rock is perilous business if you are a junior sea lion.  The large "boys" easily establish themselves in prime locations and take up as much room as their 800 pound bulk will permit.  The juniors are then faced with gruff and LOUD attacks by the established dock/rock sitters as they try to pull themselves up and into a position to rest and relax a bit.

Or are the junior "boys"  just annoying the senior "boys"?  Whatever the reason, the ruckus is loud, boisterous, and unrelenting.  Gawking tourists and locals alike are treated to an unforgettable display of macho-ism.  Their antics can provide hours of fascinating diversion.