We?re gearing up for a trip to Bahia de Los Angeles, starting to think about all the stuff we will need to camp there. I?m thinking about books and
music I?ll want when we start the packing process. I am usually plagued with trouble going to sleep at night and I often listen to tranquilizing
music through earphones to put me into a coma. I should be sure and pack them. So, I think to myself in an idle moment, what I should do is record
the sounds of Baja to help me doze off.
My old buddy Bill, a pal from all the way back in elementary school, set a video camera on a box at La Gringa a number of years back. He set it to
Record and walked away from it. An hour later he went back and turned it off. Bill had previously captured a bunch of our antics on video that trip.
He used this last segment to close his movie and gave us all a copy. The part where it just ran while sitting on the box was the best part. It just
showed the calm water in the inner bay at La Gringa, the blue sky. Pelicans and gulls were heard squawking in the background and occasionally flew
through the stationary scene. Clouds formed and dispersed and the microphone picked up the occasional breeze and the constant, slushy shuffle of
small round stones swirled by the lapping sea. The simple, immobile sights and sounds were pure and unaffected, unadulterated pleasures of nature.
So I am thinking that these same sounds, minus the video, might, if I recorded them and brought them home, help me get to sleep at night during a
tightly structured work-week. I?ll take a recorder and give it a shot.
If that doesn?t work I might need to trade in my rum bottle or box of fine wine for an actual pillow. Or, like counting sheep, I could attempt to
reiterate my phrase ?slushy shuffle? a hundred times rapidly.
elgatoloco - 9-12-2004 at 06:04 PM
The sound of the sea always works for me. We just got back from two nights at our Casa by the Sea. We slept with the french doors open and fell asleep
fast and woke up refreshed!!
Good medicine!!!
Gracias, Mateo
Mike Humfreville - 9-12-2004 at 11:30 PM
I hope you had a great time at your peaceful place by the sea. We can't wait!David K - 9-12-2004 at 11:35 PM
Mike... How is Mary Ann doing? Is she ready for the healing powers of Baja?4baja - 9-13-2004 at 07:02 AM
dont point that audio mic towards me mike or you might hear alot of bottles opening upPaulina - 9-13-2004 at 06:52 PM
Mike,
Don't those fine boxed wine containers come with pillows already inside? I remember hearing something about how the plastic bags, when empty, could be
reinflated, duct taped closed and used as a pillow for the person who owned the fancy boxed beverage.
Have a fun trip.
P.<*)))><
Yeah, but...
Mike Humfreville - 9-13-2004 at 07:27 PM
they're more important as PFD?s or, if you put enough of them together they make a fine mattress. Actually, though, your suggestion of using one as a
pillow would work marvelously (you have to pronounce that as Westy would). I would opt for a full one. That way I don?t have to get up and mix
another drink. With the pressure of my head on the bag, I?d just have to find the spigot, aim and turn the knob. That?d save me from getting up. I
don?t mind arising, there always something we need to do in the middle of the night, but then I?d hear 4Baja popping tops and wander over for a visit
and there goes the night?David K - 9-13-2004 at 08:23 PM
Those campfire nights in July, 2001 where really great for solidifing our friendships. Talking until (as Debra calls it) 'moondown'... Who needs sleep
when there is so much intellect to share... Then there was the time the ranch people south of Gecko heard the 'brujas' in the middle of the night,
singing!!! There was me, El Camote, Desert Rat, Debra, Mike, MaryAnn, and Miguelito, David Eidell... and depending on our camp location, Paulina, Neal
Johns, Perko, Santiago, Desert Bull and his gasoline blender margaritas, 4baja, lots more! We were only going to stop at Alfonsina's for lunch... But
Gonzaga Bay is just so inviting, we had to stay the night! It was great!
[Edited on 9-15-2004 by David K]Mike Humfreville - 9-13-2004 at 08:58 PM
I'd taken POT (poor old truck) and wandered off south of Gecko late one evening to listen to Andrea Bocelli's Songo album at full blast. It was dark
and I thought I was well out of earshot, miles south of camp. I sat in the cab for an hour or more on a HOT evening with the windows full down and
listening to my music full up and then went to turn around and got badly stuck, spent the rest of the night there in the middle of the roadway
listening to the same album over and over and digging, finally sleeping beside the tire for a couple of hours and lucky to awaken the next morning to
find the Diaz ranch hand standing at the ready, waiting to help dig me out. I opened my eyes and there he was, leaning on his shovel across the road
and wondering what I'd done to myself. Got back to camp and listened to the gossip about a strange desert phenomenon late the night
before...mysterious, enchanted music floating from an unknown source across the entire south end of the bay.
And you're right, David. The late night bonding sitting around the campfires was the very best. We need to do more of that again soon. A personal
hope is that Mary Ann and I end up with a place in Bahia that is close to the places we collect that we'll be right there. I'm thinking that, in
retirement, the quiet time is all fine and well but it'll be more important than ever to fit into the social scene. Viva Baja! 4baja - 9-14-2004 at 07:53 PM
will see you down there mike and we will all have a good time!!!!!
ZZZzzzzzzzzz....
El Camote - 9-14-2004 at 11:21 PM
Miguel, say no mas!
Your post got me thinking so I shoveled through the archives and found a tape recorded 2 years ago on the playas of Camp Gecko and the sand spit
beyond Alfie's. Two Baja sunrises in 16 bit stereo!
A real treat for the ears.
If Bill Clinton had limited himself to this type of aural stimulation, he probably wouldn't have needed the quadruple by-pass!
I'll shoot you a CD in the mail tomorrow. When do you leave, you lucky dog?
El Camote, the tubor!
Mike Humfreville - 9-14-2004 at 11:45 PM
First time in my life I ever for flipped off by a minor monkey (look closely!).
I'll be waiting for the tape. Should I be afraid? Can we watch it in public? Will MA forgive me??
We're leaving Ventura County on 9/24 for Gecko and leaving Gecko to return on 10/9. Wanna play? Vaca Blanca pines for people. Plenty of space at
Gecko.
Y'know, Charlie's soon going to be too old to remember Baja as the first second country of your choosing. And Mermalada could help keep me out of the
kitchen.
Go for the ring, amigo.David K - 9-14-2004 at 11:54 PM
I so want to be there Mike! School age kids for a few more years then that will be one less limit on making trips to Baja.
See El Camote relaxing at Gecko and then you both bringing yellowtails in from the boat at http://vivabaja.com/703
[Edited on 9-16-2004 by David K]
What are you two ingesting late at night?!
El Camote - 9-15-2004 at 08:28 PM
Minor monkey?
Candidates? More like candied yams!
Two Monkeys Debacle???
Mike Humfreville - 9-15-2004 at 10:05 PM
I I I I I I eye saw your original post with the twin images. So did David. He?s my witness!
You chicken chit changed it! I loved it the way it was.
But your new image? Gimme a break. What would one do with a raw sweet potato?
The only ways I?ve encountered them are:
Candied; covered with crystallized sugars and very abrasive on the surface,
Or
Canned (tinned for our British/South African Mermalada) in which case they?re flabby and have no texture. Limp if you will.
In either case they have little utility except as slop for hogs!
Are you packed yet?
Javier?s heading east.
Perhaps we should move this to the kitchen Forum???
synch - 9-16-2004 at 09:50 AM
Mike,
Don't those fine boxed wine containers come with pillows already inside? I remember hearing something about how the plastic bags, when empty, could be
reinflated, duct taped closed and used as a pillow for the person who owned the fancy boxed beverage.
Have a fun trip.
P.<*)))><
Oh my!
This was way too funny!
[Edited on 9-16-2004 by synch]
GEST TIME OF THE YEAR TO GO?
synch - 9-16-2004 at 09:52 AM
BTW,
What is the best time of the year to go for good weather?
THXelgatoloco - 9-16-2004 at 10:10 AM
Depends on your idea of 'good weather'?
Best Weather
Mike Humfreville - 9-16-2004 at 10:35 AM
elgatoloco is right. Mid-summer it's often over 100 (f) even along the water. Many of us like October the best. Whale sharks are often in (that's a
good thing), the water's in the 80's as is the air temp. Only bad thing is the hurricanes but they aren't usually a serious influence that far
north. Seems like the last few seasons have been the exception. Bahia de Los Angeles has much more than the normal amount of rain these past few
years.
80's and sunny
synch - 9-16-2004 at 05:28 PM
80's and sunny
Package from Sr. Camote!
Mike Humfreville - 9-16-2004 at 06:11 PM
Well, I walked in from work and Mary Ann hands me a package. She's smiling out of the side of her face. The package is addressed to Miguel
"Sleepless in Santa Paula" Humfreville. I guess he's fatmouthing 'cause I sometimes post late at night when I can't sleep. So I open the package...
Inside is a CD. I put it in the player and after a minute I'm listening to what started me on this thread in the first place...
A tiny, just a tiny tinkle of water on small stones. A single gull cawking from a distance. Then two, and more water. This goes on for a while as
I'm playing Solitaire in an idle time of the day and then the ocean grows louder and the collection of one or two birds has grown to a gaggle of a
hundred. They are arguing, establishing dominance over turf or a dead, floating bloated fish nearby.
Now, sitting in Ventura County, I'm also sitting along the shores of Bahia de Los Angeles and relaxed, regaining my soul. Just in time to rejuvenate
after today's round of meeting's and before tomorrows.
If I can only last out another week.
Dang this is fun!
Debra - 9-16-2004 at 09:15 PM
El Camote is here! (I also want to know when we get to meet Charlie)??? Thanks for the email picture, he is beautiful! But? that was awhile ago,
any recent pics, your would be willing to share? (email?)elgatoloco - 9-16-2004 at 10:22 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by synch
80's and sunny
We were there last week in March this year and it was 80 & sunny, as I recall.
We have been there in first week of October and it was 80 & sunny, as I recall.
Either way it's ALWAYS great to be in Baja.
If it's TOO hot at the Bahia, head for the Pacific!!
