You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December, 2007.
As some of you know, I belong to the Soul Food Cafe, an international group of writers and artists. Periodically, we involve ourselves in team project. Our guide, Enchanteur, also known as Heather Blakey, an educator in Australia, will give us a number of writing prompts from which we create our posts. The project is highly interactive with other participants leaving comments on our posts.
We are set to depart on Twelfth Night (January 6) for an undetermined amount of time. We don’t know where we are going yet but we know that it will be a transforming experience for all of us.
Just in get started, I made a post in preparation for our departure. If you care to read it, it is at: Traveling with Enchanteur
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
Photo: J.Paul Getty Villa, Malibu, Calif.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a rocky outcropping that marks the southwestern edge the Los Angeles basin. Rising from this urban plain, the peninsula pushes into the Santa Monica Bay. Twenty-six miles to the west is Santa Catalina Island, one of several that comprise the Channel Islands chain. Every winter 20,000 California gray whales make their annual voyage from the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska down the west coast of North America to the warm lagoons of Baja California in Mexico. The pregnant females will give birth and nurse their calves until they are big enough to accompany the adults back to Alaska by the end of May. The route these great animals will take passes between the peninsula and the Channel Islands. Captains of whale watching boats make a good living escorting scores of people into the bay to seek out and snap pictures of the mothers and their young.
Near the lighthouse at Point Vicente, there is an interpretive center providing a natural history of the peninsula and the sealife that dwells in bay. After driving by the center many times, a couple of days ago I decided to stop to take a look for myself.
After I exploring the center’s exhibits, I went out on the observation deck. Four people were on the deck, each sitting in high-standing deck chairs which they had brought along. Being December, it was very cold and windy and these four were bundled up in parkas and gloves. Each held high-powered binoculars. They were silent, each scanning the sea with their glasses. They were definitely prepared and looked as if they had done this many times before.
“Excuse me. Do you see any whales?” I asked.
One of the four, a woman, put her glasses down and said. “Not yet. But they’re out there. They’re out there.”
She fell silent again. She put her binoculars in her lap and just stared at the sea.
It struck me that they seem as if they were in some sort of meditative state. And why not? They were in a sunny place, staring at a scene of unparalleled beauty, listening to only the sound of the surf on the rocks below the bluff. I could not imagine a place more tranquil.
They did not seem fazed that they could see no whales. In fact, if they saw none today, I don’t think they would be disappointed. Just sitting, as if waiting for some royal personage to make an appearance, was enough. If they did see a whale, it would be as if they touched the face of the Divine. If not, still, they would not go home empty.
They were in a chapel built of sky, wind and sea. And like the whales, the Divine was out there, waiting to be experienced.
Text and Images: Lori G. © 2007
This is my first attempt at an “action shot”.
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
Taken at Lunada Bay, PV, Calif.
To see more photography, please visit Snapped.
“A Winter Storm Approaches”
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
I love the aquarium. Here’s a selection of images from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Enjoy. (More to come later)
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
This is the Korean Friendship Bell,…………………….
To read the article and see more pictures, click HERE.
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
I just got a new camera and have been messing around with it. To see a medley of first images, please click HERE.
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
I was listening to the radio about 4 a.m. this morning ,and I caught the tail end of a discussion with a gentleman named Schwartz, who studies changes in social consciousness. He outlined eight characteristics held in common by individuals and groups who have successfully brought about positive change in their communities or countries. I am merely paraphrasing these principles, and I hope that in spite of my sleep-fogged brain I correctly noted them. The examples and commentary following each principle are mine based on my understanding of what he said……..
To continue reading this post, please click HERE.
I’ve always considered myself to be a gregarious, affable person who is not afraid of expressing herself. However, I was surprised to discover just how reluctant I have become in initiating conversations with strangers.
To continue reading this essay, click HERE.
L. Gloyd (c) 2007
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