I’m sitting outside here at home pondering what to say in my blog’s first post. The day couldn’t be more glorious. The sun shines in a cirrus cloud-streaked sky. Briny sea air fills my nostrils, carried by a slight breeze cool enough to remind me the fog is hanging low out over the water ready to reclaim the evening. There’s an Anna’s hummingbird in my bougainvillea, the light catching it’s shiny emerald breast as it feeds from each of a dozen fuchsia blossoms in turn. A couple of orange and black monarch butterflies dance around the Mexican marigold bush in the garden. Some children screech and laugh as they walk past the house to the beach. A helicopter hovers over the water, possibly taking a group on a shark-spotting tour.
Tomorrow might not be like this. It IS August, after all, so it’s just as possible we will be blanketed under a chilly latte-foam-colored marine layer, and I’ll be inside with a cup of hot tea next to the fireplace, and the only sounds will be the mourning doves’ gentle cooing and the crows’ low loud cawing and the red tailed hawks’ high pitched screeching call as they circle the juniper trees over by the cliff.
Each day living here fills my senses in a new way. I’ve been completely enchanted with this area since I moved here from the midwest one April Fools’ Day over three decades ago – not “just” the Monterey Bay but the entire coast roughly from Big Sur to San Francisco. I love hiking in the silent redwoods, keeping an eye out for bright yellow banana slugs. I love the low tide, especially waiting next to a tide pool for the snails and crabs to start wandering around, me hoping for a glimpse of a tiny octopus. I heard it happened once. I love the fact that I have three neighbors with giant tortoises in their yards, another has a life-sized driftwood giraffe in their front yard, and several have chickens that peck around freely. I love hearing the stories my neighbors share while I walk the dog.
And so I wanted to start a blog as a celebration of the Monterey Bay, not just of the natural environment but also of the spirit of the people who call this area home, the artists and chefs and farmers and small business owners and athletes who make this such a vital and interesting place to live. I’ll be sharing lots of photos, talking about some of my favorite places, and offering up recommendations for any of you out there who are looking for an idea for a day trip, a weekend getaway, or a longer vacation next to the sea here. Click in the header to subscribe when a new post is published or follow my instagram @montereybayblog. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy our Monterey Bay.
