This Saturday we took a dear friend to the Carpinteria Bluffs, a large park overlooking the ocean. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed our sandwiches and oranges. Then we walked over to the Carpinteria Harbor Seal sanctuary watch point. This mile beach is closed to humans, and reserved for the seals who return to have their pups between the months of December and May. No pups have been born, and we are eagerly waiting to see one, and I have a feeling we will be going to lunch in the bluffs often. They are white when they are born, and weigh 8-10 pounds.
Lots of mothers to be were sunbathing, and chatting with the cormorans, seagulls and pelicans. Some of them were going and out of the ocean. The males are the ones who usually sleep on their back. That is one way they can be identified, otherwise one cannot tell the gender of the seal. They are one happy group enjoying the luxury of life in the sunshine on the beach.
The first picture is a close up of a cormoran drying its wings, and a seal in a yoga pose, called the bow. This next picture is the whole scene. Notice the fun tracks the flippers make as the seals locomote back and forth.
What becomes clear to us on a daily basis, is that luxury is not about stuff, how much you own or the amount of money in one's bank account, it is the joy of appreciating life in all its forms. Nature is the ultimate luxury!
We wish you a Happy Sunday!
... who lays in the sun on his back... just like the seals!
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