California Dreamin’: Part Deux

Since my Dearest Husband and I were only 90 miles from Hearst Castle, we decided to drive down scenic Route 1 to take a look at William Randolph Hurst’s grand hilltop home.  The problem was that Route 1 was shrouded in fog.  It was very atmospheric but the views were pretty limited.

Until we got right near San Simeon.  My husband was laughing about one of those “Adopt-A-Highway” signs which was sponsored by the Friends of the Elephant Seals.  Who knew Elephant Seals had friends and why were they hanging around San Simeon?  Suddenly, I looked right and said, “I think that’s an elephant seal.”  Being familiar with my affection for all forms of wildlife, D.H. pulled over instantly and let me out of the car.  Here’s what met my amazed eyes: elephant seal bodies as far as the eye could see.

They’re not dead, thank goodness, just sleeping.  Occasionally, one would scratch with a flipper or scoop sand over their back.  I love surprises like that.

Not much farther down Route 1 another surprise awaited us.  Yes, those are zebras. 

 Turns out old William Randolph had the world’s largest private zoo at one time.  When he dismantled it, some of the inmates liked it at San Simeon so much that they just stayed with the cattle.  These zebras are their descendents.

Who’d a thunk?

California Dreamin’

It was a significant birthday for my Dearest Husband.  Since his life’s ambition was to play golf at Pebble Beach, I made the terrible sacrifice and accompanied him to California’s gorgeous Monterey Peninsula.  During his first golf round, I suffered through a session at the spa.  During the second, I went kayaking on Monterey Bay where I encountered marvelous marine life.

The sea lions.  Incredibly noisy, they are surprisingly nimble on the rocks and sleekly beautiful in the water.  They paid no attention whatsoever to my little kayak.

The otters.  These furry aquatic mammals sleep floating on their backs with their paws crossed on their chests and their back flippers sticking straight up.  They wrap strands of kelp around their middle to anchor themselves in place.  Occasionally, one would rouse from sleep to groom herself before snoozing again.

The harbor seal.  My guide and I paddled over to the rocks where the seals usually hang out, but there were none to be seen.  Disappointed, we headed to where a raft of otters were sleeping in the kelp and stopped to get a good look at them.  As I floated there, a harbor seal’s head popped up five feet away from my kayak.  I looked at him and he looked at me and I said, “Hello.”  He disappeared under the water.  I bent over to peer down into the water in hopes of seeing him swim by.  All of a sudden he came up from under my kayak so we were virtually nose to nose.  I’m not sure who was more surprised, but it was a magical moment as we looked into each other’s eyes.   He disappeared again in a flash of spots, and then I felt my kayak start to vibrate back and forth.  My guide laughed.  “He’s scratching his back on the bottom of your boat,” she explained. 

They call me the Seal Whisperer.

I wanna go back to college!

Parents’ Weekend at Darling Daughter’s new alma mater, Kenyon College, reminded me of how true it is that college is wasted on the young.

First, the food.  When I was in college, we had a stainless steel tub of meat, a tub of vegetables, a tub of starch, and a tub of stale bread.  They were labeled but we never believed what they said except for once when the tub of stewed tomatoes bore the label “Biology Experiment”.  Amazingly enough it was still full at the end of dinner.

At Kenyon, they choose from a Mongolian barbecue bar, a salad bar, a grill, a special daily entrée, and, most important, a dessert bar.  My daughter complains about the lack of variety.

Second, the athletic facitilies.  Look at this picture of the Kenyon Athletic Center pool, affectionately known as “the KAC”.  Only the varsity athletes had facilities like these when I was in college.  Nowadays everyone gets access.

Third, the classes.  How’s this for a classroom? 

This is where my Darling Daughter’s Shakespeare course is held.  I was happy to discover that they still teach the same things in English (my major), and it made me long for the good old days of theme and imagery.  I love that stuff and so does D. D., a chip off the old block.

Fourth, study abroad.  In my day, you had to sell your firstborn to study off-campus.  Now it’s almost expected that students will spend at least a semester out of the country.  D. D.’s planning to go to England.  I’m in favor of this because I plan to go visit her.  Don’t tell her though!

 

Life is Good, Part 2

Last night was Opening Night at the Rock for the New Jersey Devils, or “my guys” as I affectionately call them.  And we won, 2-1, beating the New York Islanders without a whole lot of trouble.   Wahoo!  It’s hockey season again, the most wonderful time of the year.

That’s Zach Parise at right, our young, tenacious scorer, celebrating his first goal of the season.  I love Zach because he never quits, mostly because he’s too young to know when he should.  You need your veterans for toughness and stability, but you also need that marvelous reckless youth that never gives up.

The first game is so important psychologically, especially because the Islanders beat us last year over and over again when we had no business losing to them.  This was a great start.

Honestly though, even if we’d lost, life would be good because now almost every night is Hockey Night.

Life is Good!

O frabjous day!  Callooh!  Callay!  My Darling Daughter is home from college for four whole days!  This is the first time I’ve seen her since late August, and I’ve missed her a ton.

D.D. is a freshman at Kenyon College in the cornfields of Ohio.  She loves it there, having settled in with not a moment’s homesickness, much to my relief.  She’s an English geek, like me, and Kenyon is noted for its English and Creative Writing program, one of the reasons she chose to go there.

Our children can be very wise.  When my husband asked D. D. what stood out for her about her experience at Kenyon so far, she had a great answer.  She said she loved being part of a whole group of people who are passionate about the same things she is.  Isn’t that one of the great things in life?