Memorial Day

May 26th 2014

Today is Memorial Day here in the U.S.   It is a public holiday and remembers and honors those families who have sacrificed so much.  As we drove today, almost every American flag was flying at half mast.  What a glorious day it was here, warm, sunny and clear making all the colors vibrant.  We drove to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve which is a State Park just south of Carmel here in California.  This is one of our favorite places to visit and it is majestic at any time of year and in any weather.  Today was a sunny day with no hint of the marine layer that is usually so prevalent in the summer.  The summer is not the best time of year to visit the beach here because there is usually a thick mist that creeps in off the ocean.  It reaches many miles inland.  Inland, it clears up pretty early but at the beach it can hang around all day.  In this first photograph, you can see the marine layer out on the horizon.

There were hundreds of cormorants nesting on "Bird Island".  We also saw a lot of pelicans flying.  Our favorite little beach, China Cove, was closed because it was being used by the harbor seals as a nursery.  Young seals and their moms were laying on the sand and playing in the emerald water.  It was wonderful.  We didn't see any otters today, usually we see several.  

The tide was low, so we were able to observe the tide pools close up.  

The route to Point Lobos, takes us through fields growing artichokes, strawberries, raspberries, cabbages, and all kinds of salad crops.  Workers are hard at work in the fields picking and boxing up produce.  I like to see all the different crops growing, it reminds me of our dependance on the land.  The last two photos are of a field of artichokes and fields of red and green lettuce - what fabulous stripes!