better to give

At some point in this month, I will put another click on my life-ometer.


The day does not matter.


Some will say I am a year older.  Maybe they are correct.  But I like to think of it as being just another day or hour older.   These traditional milestones mean little to me.


But I did get two great birthday gifts this week -- both on the mirador above Melaque.


I drove up there to see if it was possible to see the sun set.  A blogger friend told me the sun would set behind a hill, rather than over the ocean.


But it is still early enough in the year (and the sun's path is still far enough south) for the sun not to be too modest as it slips into its bath.

You can see the result.  Not as spectacular as some of our sun sets -- more clouds would have helped.  But it will do.


The second gift was completely unexpected.  While I was waiting for the sun to start performing, I scanned the bay with my binoculars.


Right at the mouth, I could see a disturbance on the surface of the water.


Bait ball?  Dolphin pod?  Both are regular sightings in the bay.


Then I saw it.  A spout.  A broad flat tail.  Another tail.


Whales.  A pod of whales.

Whales visit our bay now and then in the winter.  It is calving time.  But most whales do not come this far south to birth and nurse.


I can't help but wonder if they may be the same whales I saw off the coast of Oregon in October. 


Probably not.  But merely to see them was a delight.  And I wish you could have see in the photograph what I could see with my binoculars.  (You will need to click on the photograph to enlarge it to make any sense of it.)


They cavorted for a full half hour -- until they submerged when a panga filled with tourists intruded on their play.


Two nice gifts.  But I thought I would share them with you.