Engaging

The gray whales hugging this very local coastline, breaching and blowing just yards from the beach, have appeared for the past 3 mornings I’ve walked there. No way to tell if they are the same whales day to day or are others migrating through. The past two mornings the whales have been joined by a great and wild menagerie: seals spyhopping, sea lions surfing, sea otters cavorting, and even a dolphin or porpoise with dorsal fin raised, all close in and curious (except maybe the dolphin/porpoise) about us strange, rare beach pedestrians. I wonder if the relative quiet of the sea, with fewer ships and fishing boats moving about with their grinding engines, has made these creatures so engaging, so almost-approachable, making me feel so close to Eden.