This day started out as a normal day. I did all of my regular routine in the morning with one exception. I was missing my children so I telephoned the one I knew would be home and able to talk to me. That was # 2 Child. #2Child was a little groggy even though it was after 9 am but that is because #2 Child is a night owl like me.
It was so very good to hear #2 Child's voice and listen to the details of #2Child's activities since our last conversation. I was also made aware of the activities of this Child's pets and horses. #2 Child was always an animal lover and when we all lived together, our houses were always full of the lost, injured or abandon animals the #2 Child would bring home. After a very nice chat I had to say goodbye and told #2 Child that the Father and I sent all of our love to #2 Child and the Fiance of #2 Child who is a wonderful human being that we adore.
Instead of my regular walk on the beach I decided to go back into the desert behind our home for a change of scenery. The Dog was confused at first as he was already heading for the beach when he saw me getting dressed. The Dog came back to me, cocked an ear my way and asked me 'what was up' with a look. I showed the Dog the knapsack and held out my hiking shoes and the Dog wagged his tail in recognition.
Our hike took us down a gravel road that leads to several small arroyos that cross it at different times. I took the first one as it is wide but not cavernous and the ground in it was dry. The sun has finally come back and it was a beautiful day. There was a small breeze that snuck along the arroyo walls to cool us and trees grew out of the rock walls and in the floor of the arroyo to offer us shade. Butterflies of every size and color were fluttering around the flowers brought out by the rains that fell during the dark cold days of the past two weeks. There is only the sound of the wind blowing and the branches of trees swaying. The sweet quiet of nature undisturbed by the noise of progress is a rare thing these days and I cherished every minute of it. The Dog is a silent walker so there was only the crunch of my hiking shoes on the sandy floor of the arroyo to add to the music of the wilderness around me.
We walked for about 3/4 of a mile or so and after many twists and turns we found ourselves in the main arroyo which runs to the south of us. I was surprised as I did not know this small arroyo emptied there. I decided to walk to the waterfall that was up ahead a ways. The Dog was very glad for this as he was very thirsty and knew that water was near.
At the waterfall I took off my hiking shoes and cooled my feet by walking along the waters path carved out in the sand. The Dog lay down in the stream and drank the water that ran between his front legs. I looked at the waterfall and the rocks it fell from and decided to leave my knapsack and hiking shoes and follow the water up stream from the falls. The Dog, who is always ready for an adventure, was more than ready to go exploring.
We climbed the rocks around the waterfall and came to a flatter area scattered with smaller jagged rocks so I immediately missed my shoes! I found a long branch and using it as a staff , picked my way along the rocks to find yet another waterfall. The stream had cut a path through some large slabs of granite that had a beautiful green mineral that ran in it. I could not resist sliding my hand along the path of the water through the rock to feel how smooth the water had polished it. We had some little difficulty here as the Dog had trouble getting a good grip on solid stone so he took to leaping up to the tops of rocks rather than trying to get good footholds with his pads and toenails. I struggled a bit as the rocks near the water were slippery with algae but managed to scramble my way up. At the top the land leveled off to a lovely spot with trees and flowering bushes and cactus with the stream bubbling all through it. There were huge slabs of rock that were flat enough to lay on and sun oneself or you could lay on three different sand bars that offered softer repose. The Dog was in no mood for lying about but I was after such a climb so I tried a rock first and then the sand bar. The rock was comfortable for a time but had a bit of an angle that I kept sliding down. The sand bar was infinitely softer and more level but the flies found me there and pestered me. I decided to follow the Dog's example and walked around a bit.
I found a great deal of cow hoof prints and dung further up the stream but have no idea how those cows could have climbed the waterfalls and rocks to get there. There must be another way into this riverbed that I will have to look for and report on another day.
The Dog and I finally agreed to head back to our casa and it seemed a very long way after all that climbing and hiking. The sun was high in the sky by then and beat down on our heads. I did not mind it too much as it had been absent for so long.
On our arrival home the Dog and I found the Husband out enjoying the sun on our patio with a good book in his hand so we joined him. I brought out oranges and we all had juice running over our hands and paws. The Dog absolutely loves oranges and will stare at me unblinking, watching my every move when I start to peel one. The Dog's rapt attention is so amusing to me that I always laugh and give a section to him. The Dog prefers the peel attached so he can first, chew the whole piece at once to get out all the juice and second, holding the peel with his paw, he uses his teeth to rip out the pulp. Other animals like our oranges too. I put out the older oranges for the Orioles on the palm trees on our patio.. The Orioles come around and work over the Hibiscus flowers first and then after more chattering , fly to the palm trees where I have secured the oranges. There they flutter and chatter and work over the fruit.
The next part of my day was spent reading a very good book about Kit Carson and the settling of New Mexico and California in the middle and late 1800's. It is a thrilling and gruesome story about man's ability to justify the near extinction of another race of man so new territory can be settled and progress and civilization can continue it's march to the Pacific ocean. Kit Carson was a very decent man who had a horrible temper and never let a wrong done to him go unavenged. It seems strange to call him decent with that big of a flaw in his character but for the times he lived in he was one of the most decent of human beings running around slaughtering Native people.
After a good read, some neighbors stopped by for a chat which was nice. They live down the road from us and had come on their ATV's as the day was too nice to be cooped up in a large truck. We chatted a bit until it was time for dinner and they left for their home and us in a very good mood.
I decided that dinner tonight would be steak and baked potato with fried tortilla strips and a good green salad. While tearing the lettuce for the salad, I noticed our neighbors Daughter down on the beach fishing and digging for crabs in the sand. The sea was calm and rolling long slow waves in to the shore line. The Pelicans were flying and diving near the young Woman as they do when they see a human fishing with bait. I turned back to my cooking and the Husband looked out to watch the Girl and see if she had caught a fish. The Husband suddenly yelled to me that a Pelican had become ensnared on her fishing line! I dropped my cookware and headed for my knapsack in the laundry room where I had left it after the Dog and I returned from our walk. I opened it and grabbed a needle nose pliers, a large long handled pliers and my trusty Swiss Army knife all of which I always take with me on my hikes in the wilderness, Just In Case!
I ran for the door and grabbed a small blanket off the end of our couch on my way. As I passed the Husband I asked if the Pelican was still on the line and he replied it was. I told the Husband to keep the Dog in the casa as the Pelican is one of the Dog's arch enemies.
I raced down the stairs that led to the beach and burst through the gate and out on to the sand. As I got closer I could see the Pelicans wing was out at an odd angle and the poor Girl was trying to get the Pelican untangled but the bird was too afraid of her to settle down. When I was closer to them I slowed to a walk so as not to frighten the bird anymore . The young Woman does not speak much English but I made my self understood that I was here to help.
Now I have never rescued a Pelican before but my good friend 'M' had told me what to do in such a situation as he had seen fisherman just cut the fishing line and leave the bird with either a hook in it's beak or hopelessly entangled in the line and left to die a slow horrible death. I was hoping I had listened well to 'M's instructions and that he was correct in his lesson.
I put down my tools and unfolded the blanket I had brought with me. I walked quietly up behind the Pelican and gently floated the blanket out over the top of the bird. As soon as the blanket fell and covered the bird I fell to my knees and held the blanket down on the sand and worked my arms around the birds body and then reached a hand up towards where I hoped it's beak would be. Pelicans are large strong birds and I did not want to hurt either the bird or myself. When I felt what I hoped was the beak I gently closed my hand around the blanket that covered it and the Pelican went still. I motioned to the Girl to get the Swiss Army knife and come to us. The Girl did as she was told and I used my free hand and pulled up the side of the blanket that had the wing wrapped up in the fishing line. The Pelican struggled a bit and then was still again. I talked slow and in low tones to the Girl and asked if the Pelican had gotten the hook anywhere in it's beak and she assured me it was only tangled in the line. We searched the wing and found the line had wrapped many times around it. I continued to hold the beak and keep the bird's body very close to mine so it would not feel the urge to struggle and make matters worse as the fishing line was still attached to the fishing pole! I used my other hand to try to loosen the line enough so the young Woman could cut it and free the wing. We were successful!! I recovered the Pelican with the blanket and then the Girl informed me the the line was also around the bird's neck! I began to feel around the Pelican's neck under the blanket and sure enough it had at least 4 loops around it's neck of line and it was very tight! I gently worked my fingers under the line and the Girl ,using much caution, finally was able to get the tip of the knife under it and cut the bird free. A feeling of great relief came over me as I sat on the sand with the Pelican on my lap under a blanket with it's beak in my one hand and my arms wrapped around it. It finally struck me that I was sitting with a wild creature in my arms whose life I had probably saved and I was unwilling to let it go so soon. It was not what I had imagined it would be. Usually when you walk near Pelicans there is a horrible smell of rotting fish around them and they are very ugly creatures when they are not flying. Strangely enough this Pelican was warm and smelled like the sea and it's feathers were uncommonly soft to the touch. I wanted it to like me and follow me home and sit on my patio with me and follow me and the Dog down the beach on our walks soaring over us like a bomber on patrol of the skies. All this ran through my mind in just seconds and then I knew I had to let it go. I got to my knees with the bundled Pelican still in my arms, released my hold and pulled off the blanket in one move. The Pelican looked around at us spread it's wings and jumped into the air and glided off over the sea and landed amongst it's kin and never looked back.
I gave the Swiss Army knife to my neighbors Daughter in case of future pelican accidents. I gathered up my things and ran for my casa. The Husband was impressed and the Dog could not stop sniffing me and the blanket for a long time and I was elated. I talked too fast and breathed too hard and almost hyperventilated. Then the next thing I knew, I was back in my kitchen making a salad and a steak and some baked potatoes and my day of adventure was done.
PS Dear 'M', Thank you for the instruction on saving a Pelican from fishing line and hooks etc. Muchas Gracias and Abrazos !!!
