SUN, SAND, AND SALT WATER

Sea lions stink!

I discovered this last week as our hired sailboat floated past a colony of them a hundred yards off our starboard side, draped over the rocks of San Carlos like tourists at a Turkish bath (ask me about that story sometime!). They reeked up to high heaven and barked at us derisively—rude creatures—as we headed out to open water in search of whales.

And we found them! Greys and humpbacks spouted fountains as we drew near, then breached and dove and waved goodbye with their mighty, double-finned tails. A barnacle-crusted sea turtle surfaced and then sank beneath our hull; some dolphins joined the party for a while; frigate birds and pelicans welcomed us back when we returned to port after a few hours at sea.

I find I love the ocean. I’m useless in the water itself—can only dog-paddle to save my life (though I do give snorkelling a go when in Mexico, choking and panicking whenever a bit of aqua seeps into my mask). But the briny teal depths are so vast, compellingly mysterious to a prairie girl like me.

Some of my shore-clinging friends from other countries seem intrigued by gophers and antelope and the way snow heaps up around the front door in a prairie winter. And the stench of our common skunk is every bit as foreign to them, I suppose, as the perfume of those sea lions to me.

Maybe that’s the whole point of vacation.  A change of scenery for even a week just seems to readjust one’s viewpoint.

Are any of you travelling this winter? Tell me about your trip!