Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Summer Afternoon


Time out from the day to day.  That's a summer afternoon.  A slow drive down the coast to find the sun and the sand and the sea.  A chance to meet others in search of the same escape from the everyday.  

We took our friend to Esalen way down the coast from us.  We went beyond and sat at a little roadside cafe in Lucia for some tea, conversation, and a lazy hour of watching the sun and meeting some of the others enjoying the same scenery.  In the summer it is easy for us to imagine we've stumbled through some magic portal to Europe along the Big Sur coast.  We find ourselves surrounded by German, Swiss, and Portuguese travelers, their conversations in varied languages form our summer symphony of sound.


A trailing melody of voices along the paths at Esalen continued the same European theme.   


As we made our way back up the coast toward home, however, we were brought soundly back to California by the sight of the California Condors flying high above us. The largest bird in North America with a nearly ten foot wingspan, they are one of the rarest birds on Earth there being less than 300 living in the wild.  The story of the Condor has followed me nearly all of my life.  News accounts when I was in school reported their near extinction and the efforts to save and protect them.  And there they are, soaring above the sea along the coast of California.

Back in our snug little home in the fog we felt we'd gone so much further than a little drive down the coast.

In bocca al lupo.  m & v

  


3 comments:

  1. Lucia, that's a new place for me; now I want to go exploring, too. What perfect weather for your outing, lucky you. And then you get to see a condor? Some luck, eh?
    m-e

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    1. We actually saw seven condors! And yes, it was wonderful weather, sunny and warm. m

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