Week 13 of My Wanderings - Mar 28 - Apr 3, 2022 - Sea Otters, Sea Lions and Brandt's Cormorants

The days have started with clouds and a marine layer.  The color of sunrise was rare this week.

This week started with Sea Otters at the Coast Guard jetty.  I spotted one feeding right off the boat dock.   He was joined by a sea gull and then another.  I love mornings that start with a sea otter sighting!

Pulling mussels from underneath the boat dock.

At the end of the jetty the Brandt's Cormorants are nesting.  They show their special plumage for the mating and nesting season, the blues are spectacular and there is lots of nesting materials being gathered.

A snowy egret visits the cormorants.

An Osprey sat at the top of one of the docked boats watching the goings on below.

One morning I headed toward Carmel Valley looking for sun, but it was cloudy there too.  I had a very lovely walk none the less.

Can't resist a sea lion mug.

The wildflowers on the trail between Monastery Beach and Carmel River Beach....well they are getting beautiful!

A hummingbird was showing off a beautiful colored collar.

As I walked on the coastal trail in Pacific Grove, a black cat posed for me.

My free spirit has been talking to me lately.  After being a caregiver for Phil for 4 years and doing 365 days of images, I'm feeling the need of spontaneity.  I will no longer follow the routine of a weekly blog.  I am free styling it for a while.  I will continue my 64 new experiences and sharing them.

#16 new experience

This week my only new experience was seeing a ladybug on the beach.  I've never seen one walking across the beach before.  Pretty cute stuff!

Here's to another week full of beauty!

The wildflower in the dunes of Asilomar.....

Week 12 of My Wanderings - Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2022 - Sea Otter on the Boat Dock in Monterey

 What's new??  64 new experiences in 2022

A new experience for each one of my years on the planet.

#14 - My fourteenth new experience this year, happened a la natural.  Ha!  I was walking to the end of the boat dock in Monterey to take photos of the sunrise and when I got to the end of the dock, there lay a sea otter.  It looked like it was sleeping, I backed up and when up higher onto a deck area.  I watched it stretch, look around and cover its eyes to block out the world.  Amazing!  First time I have ever seen a sea otter on the deck of the boat dock!  Woohoo!

Morning Moon

Did I mention that I love my morning walk??

Sunrise

I walked in Carmel one morning this week - when I came around the corner and saw the sunrise I was overwhelmed by the beauty.

The wildlife along the way.

Sea Otter peering over the kelp at me.

Crow and Oystercatcher

Snowy Plover

Sea Lions

Brewer's Blackbird

(I love them, they look like grumpy bird)

Along the coastal trail in Pacific Grove.  The purple "magic carpet" is coming back for the spring.

Always time for a beach walk.  In fact one of my "new habits" is taking time without my camera sometimes when I go to the beach.  I have been meditating by the ocean with much quiet success.

#15 new experience - I have been missing Phil a lot lately, it seems to go in spells.  This time of the year he would grill out some delicious food for dinner.  His grill, that Noelle and I got him for father's day 2018, has been sitting and rusting away.  I went online for solutions, I read about how to turn the gas grill into a charcoal burning grill.  I took all the parts having to do with propane off, added a metal plate and hopefully I will have an image of me grilling out soon.  Phil would have been mighty proud of me, I could feel him smiling at me.

Miss you Phil!

“So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.”

My Favorite Ten Images from Week 9 of My Wanderings - Feb 28 - Mar 6, 2022 - Searching for Inner Peace

On my morning walks.....I gather up feelings of peace.  As the day goes on, I find it challenging maintaining the feeling, staying away from the funk and keeping anxieties at bay.  Finding myself, after my husband Phil's death, has been an ongoing process and a constant search within.  I want to find that place of relaxation that I had before, the joy and fun that I used to feel and for goodness sake, to lose some of the stress that I've been carrying.

This week I started expanding my meditations and making sure to tune into myself.

Trying to grasp, that I can't fix everything going on in the world and that I need to breathe through the moments of anxiety.  I continue to use gratitude and beauty to get through day to day.  

One moment at a time.

I take in energy from the morning sun.

Listen to the birds chirp and sing.

I know I'm learning to get my wings back.....

Sometimes hitting a rock!

Friends sure help!

The shadow side of me....

always with me and a little evasive.

I find success inviting the inner child out, because little Linda sure knew how to just take in a moment.  Suddenly an insect can be entertainment, the light reflecting off the water is doing a dance and the birds are talking to their fairy friends....in other words, I'm doing what I can to find joy, happiness and my free spirit.

What's new??  64 new experiences in 2022

A new experience for each one of my years on the planet.

#9 new experience

My daughter Nicole got me this book for my birthday.  I'm taking time each day to sit outside, read and finding my inner Monk.  

#10 new experience

I took video of mating monarch butterflies.....