BajaNomad

Boojum dance

Osprey - 4-18-2007 at 07:54 AM

Baja Quicktime



A big part of the magic that is Baja California is the slow pace. Norteaños can’t wait to cross the border, leave the fast-paced “rat race” behind.

The slowing down doesn’t start at the border – takes a little while to unwind, stop the clock ticking inside one’s head and heart. When traveling by road, time seems to lag even while whizzing down the two-lane. For me, it has always taken a couple of days before I really began to relax; become fully adjusted to Baja Time.

I wonder “Did I ever really adjust? Did I ever get in sync with the pace of the place?” It’s all a matter of perspective. Time to give some thought to the Dance of The Cirios. The boojums dance! Did you know that? You can’t see it unless you know how to look. The dance pace is the Real time of the place. Perhaps we have not adjusted at all. Maybe time is a lot slower than we think, slower than we are able to recognize and appreciate because humans move, think, hear, see at intervals, frequencies which, in comparison, are mach speed in a world moving to a different metre.

Many of us live in a snapshot world; a place from which we can never see real time changes in the world of specialty videographers. They leave the camera on, go work on several other projects, return to make us gasp at what has gone on before the lens had we the ability to wait, look, see what the camera caught.

Our view of the desert, the plants, the mountains as we travel, explore is a series of snapshots – often raw, dramatic. What would be breathtaking indeed would be the same scenes as they change before our eyes by the simple passing of time. Baja Time.

Maybe there is a parallel to my “two days to adjust” – perhaps after many years, if I really try, I’ll be able to slow down enough to witness a flower as it grows, opens, withers. Maybe I’ll be able to see the cactus dance, see the shoreline through all the changes of the tide, witness the mangos bulge and redden, watch the precious niños grow tall and strong.

vandenberg - 4-18-2007 at 08:09 AM

Fishhawk,

All this is very true. However you have to realize that you have only so many minutes in your life and you have to make choices. To do what you suggest, you probably would have only time to do one or maybe two of those before expiring.
That's maybe why we as mere mortals try to do them all or as many as we can:?::?:

David K - 4-18-2007 at 08:27 AM

Baja Travel Rule:

No clocks or watches after crossing the border...

Eat when you are hungry and sleep when you are tired!

We like to watch the 'Cardon Tango'...

Mexray - 4-18-2007 at 08:50 AM

...being performed across Bahia Concepción as we watch from the front porch of our Palapa. No matter that we can't really see the partners sway to and fro in time with the sounds of the afternoon breeze...the hills have us hypnotized with their changing colors as the sun slides over our shoulders on it's way to wake up our neighbors across the wide Pacific...

[Edited on 4-18-2007 by Mexray]

IMG_2797 (500 x 375).jpg - 48kB

longlegsinlapaz - 4-18-2007 at 09:09 AM

Vandenberg....Me thinks Osprey is talking about QUALITY versus quantity. There can be a huge difference! Sometimes a lot of variety over our alloted time...be it a few days or a lifetime...is all we're looking for. Sometimes & for some people, experiencing all the nuances & subtle changes over the long term is more rewarding. Living here full-time means a slower paced life without the need to speed up & slow down with each border crossing! :bounce:

Skipjack Joe - 4-18-2007 at 10:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Osprey
Our view of the desert, the plants, the mountains as we travel, explore is a series of snapshots – often raw, dramatic. What would be breathtaking indeed would be the same scenes as they change before our eyes by the simple passing of time. Baja Time.


When you take one of these snapshots time does stand still. That's why I take them. To see a baja which I wouldn't see otherwise. To really SEE. To see baja without extraneous thoughts passing through your mind, diffusing what you're seeing. And the silence of the desert really helps you to do that.

Baja Bernie - 4-18-2007 at 10:16 AM

To cram your life full of 'stuff' and what do you have? Stuff.

To stop and look and then become in step with the music of mother nature and then what do you have..........I think, perhaps, peace.

Sort of like wearing shorts without pockets...............I loved that one.

Mexitron - 4-18-2007 at 10:59 AM

When I've spent a week in Baja it feels like a month...maybe its the desert...all the life has to be extraordinarily patient for the rains to come...lots of downtime for those Cirios and Elephant Trees, sometimes years when there's drought. Its as if the place is half asleep, in some hypnagogue, dreaming of itself.

Fred - 4-18-2007 at 11:29 AM

David K................i also enjoy no TV and no newspaper

Cypress - 4-18-2007 at 11:33 AM

Stuff! A mover once told me that if my "stuff" wasn't worth $.50/lb., it would be better to leave it behind.:) Took his advice!:D Have moved a time or two, dropped a lot of "stuff" along the way.:)

Cypress

Baja Bernie - 4-19-2007 at 02:53 PM

I absolutely LOVE your response.
More of us should hire that mover of men, fish , or bread

Cypress - 4-19-2007 at 03:00 PM

Thanks Bernie,:D