PELICAN & A FISHERWOMAN This year Mother Nature gave us a pleasant surprise; August in California has been cooler than expected, making early mornings simply beautiful. Standing out on a patio, under the clear blue sky, watching fog rolling down in the canyon, long before Sun comes up, has, for me, a special magic. I watched dew drops settled on the green leaves, waiting for that first ray of Sun, just for few seconds, making them shine like precious stone, before evaporating. Meenal and I had planned a beach walk this morning; it had been way too long since we had gone to the beach. I offered to pick up my Starbucks chai and her black coffee, on the way to her house, besides, I can’t start my day without Chai, now Meenal that is another story, I need to work on getting her away from that boring black coffee, 99.99% Americans drink black coffee, what is so great about it? I turned on Ridgeline Drive, Sunday morning, the road was deserted, no people or cars in sight, only thing slowing me down was the tree lined road disappearing in the thick fog seamlessly blending in beautiful blue sky. I imagined, the way to heaven must be as beautiful; you just know something peaceful is awaiting you. I keep driving; wanted to get to the beach before hot Sun starts baking the white glistening sand and us with it. I pull in the parking lot to the Starbucks, part of it was littered with McDonald’s wrappers, Saturday night partying of the teens, I thought. Big, black, chubby Crows were feasting on the half eaten hamburgers and French fries; hmmm… junk food is causing the obesity in American crows. Litter did not bother me, we feed birds, no one feeds crows, and cleaning crew will be here soon. Armed with sweet smelling chai, not so sweet smelling black coffee, and irresistible, mouthwatering, cinnamon and sugar coated warm breakfast buns I reached Meenal and Dilip’s house. Dilip is our designated driver; we admit that our judgment in driving is severely affected by silly talks and laugh. Dilip is a serious walker, coffee in one hand, signature hat on his head; giving us a familiar nod, he passes us on the board walk. Meenal and I are multitasking, talking, drinking our beverages, eating our breakfast buns, taking in all that is going on around us, and yeah, walking. On the beach we walk with two speeds, slow and slower. We tell each other all the silly things we have done and laugh at ourselves. May be I am biased but Newport Beach with its 2+ miles of board walk, wide white soft sand beach, and crystal blue ocean with high, rhythmically crashing waves make it a popular amongst surfers. This morning surfers were lined up waiting for the big waves, they did not seem to feel the chill of the cold ocean water. Vacationers who wanted to make the most of every minute of their time were walking on the beach barefoot, letting fine white sand slip between their toes, tickling them. Meenal and I followed our usual route on the board walk close to beautiful little gardens of the beach houses; occasionally we came across a lone bicyclist but no young skateboarders were up that early. Serious discussion about what I should wear to the upcoming weddings and there are many, dominated this morning’s conversation. colors of the sarees must go with the theme, the season, the time of the day, decisions, decisions, decisions, and oh yeah, I don’t want anyone to outdo me, and I have a great suspicion that there are some eagerly waiting for the opportunity. We talked about the latest trend in India, women in the family wear matching sarees, neither Meenal nor I could understand the logic behind it, maybe they get them cheaper by the dozen or miss the school days of uniform and then there is another danger, a drunk husband could mistake someone else for his wife. Time went by quickly; we returned to the pier, waiting for Dilip, we sat on a bench with an unobstructed 360 degree view. Sunday morning fish market was busy, serious fish eaters were there not wanting to miss the first and the best catch, me being a vegetarian, was not interested in fish market, until I spotted a big beautiful Pelican approaching the market; he perched on the top of a small structure, with the view of all the fish. I left Meenal and the conversation to go get a pic, only to be surprised by the big graceful bird, landing 2 feet from me, not concerned about the people; he was focused on the fresh catch and planning a strategy, how to get his long beak on it. He didn’t have to wait long, before a fisher woman with a bucketful of discarded fish parts, called him. He opened his wide beak and caught every piece she tossed, she later turned to the small birds, patiently waiting in line behind the pelican, and fed them the fish, all the while having a conversation with them. Her face weathered by the sun, wind and salt, showed the signs of early aging, hard work had taken a toll on her body and yet she looked very happy and content. I thanked her for giving me the photo opportunity she smiled back and told me that some days there are many more pelicans. I thought of a Marathi fisherman song; youtube/watch?v=iofvMUuml7o
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:31:18 +0000
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