BajaNomad
Not logged in [Login - Register]

Go To Bottom
Printable Version  
Author: Subject: Whale Song Dreams
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 7-7-2008 at 01:37 PM
Whale Song Dreams


Whale Song Dreams


The trip to San Evaristo really started when we began to slip and slide and dig in. The little ’75 Jeep kept us up and moving and out of trouble but it was all I could do to coax it along. Strangest road in memory; neither Enrique nor I knew anything about the storm that had just dropped record measures of rain on the Gigantes. This dirt trace that ran along the shore at the base of the mountains north and west of La Paz must have been under water for days and we came along before it began to dry out – the road was rocky so we were wobbling, sinking, bouncing along in a rocky river of mud.

By the time we hit the flats we were running right along the beach and we stopped a couple of times to take a dip and cool off. Not far south of the bay we spotted a whole whale skeleton. We stopped, had a beer, took some photos – Enrique sat on the long white spine and mugged for the camera. I took a walk along the beach and not far from the carcass I found the animal’s baleen. It had been picked clean and now dry and sterile had no smell to it. I grabbed up as much as I could carry and lugged it back to the jeep. I loved the look of it and thought it might highlight an empty area of my patio, be a conversation starter when we had new guests from the states.

At Everisto we found a great place to camp on the beach, made a fire, listened to music, got drunk, swam a few times in the darkness and finally passed out near the jeep. I awoke before Enrique, took a swim to clear my head, made a fire for coffee. Enrique was sleeping with his head covered completely by his T shirt – I supposed the bugs were bothering him and I teased him about it when he woke up. He said it was for the skunks. He swears skunks are drawn to the sound of human breathing, they have been known to bite and they carry rabies.

Nothing bothered me during the night. I must have used the baleen ribs as a pillow. Maybe in my drunken state I thought if I slept that way I might hear the whales singing in my sleep. Nothing but precious sleep – no dreams, no whale songs.

We had blue skies and muddy roads ahead and it took us half a day to crawl up and over the Gigantes – we stopped at El Bosque, Solidad and a few small ranchos. We must have taken the long way around because we dropped out of the mountains well north of El Cien. I love exploring so with good weather, no breakdowns, friendly natives it was a great trip all the way around.

Since Enrique lies almost as much as me, I was surprised to learn from the internet that he was right about the skunks. In Mexico more people die from being bitten by rabid skunks than those who die from snakebite.




I’m a hopeless romantic and easily become captive to the power of suggestion; I know the whale’s baleen is to filter food, not to make sound. I’m not really surprised that just part of the whale, now a permanent part of my patio, my life, has brought eerie whale songs to my dreams. There is a sadness, a kind of pleading in the keening sonnets – in my dreams they do not repeat; each song, each dream is distinct and memorable.

The patio door remains wide open at night – now that I know the siren song for skunks is the hushed and tender sound of sleep-breath. When at sleep in the wild my frightening blares and blatts of snoring must have sent them all scurrying back to their burrows around Everisto Bay. At times I’m worried they might attack my wife but I think my powers will protect her too. Sometimes I feel almost tailor made for this rough place.
View user's profile
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 7-7-2008 at 01:38 PM
Enrique




baleen one.jpg - 34kB
View user's profile
Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline

Mood: Happy!

[*] posted on 7-7-2008 at 06:12 PM


Something about those whales--they have three hemispheres in their brains to our two...I imagine they percieve time differently than we do, and maybe their songs reflect that.
View user's profile
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 7-7-2008 at 06:18 PM


I believe the whales think of them as trimespheres. We are so damn different.
View user's profile

  Go To Top

 






All Content Copyright 1997- Q87 International; All Rights Reserved.
Powered by XMB; XMB Forum Software © 2001-2014 The XMB Group






"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

 

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes

 

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

 

"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law







Thank you to Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.







Emergency Baja Contacts Include:

Desert Hawks; El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262