This extraordinary photo by Bill Bouton, a retired biology professor from Grand Rapids, made it around the world on several sites. He captured this image in Port San Luis, about 45 minutes south of here. The whale and pelicans were feeding on a "bait ball," a large school of fish. Just a day before people here in Cambria noted unusual numbers of Pelicans in a feeding frenzy, probably hitting on the same migration of fish. I am in awe of the spectacular moment captured by Bouton.
A RARE PLACE
Big Sur is one of the most precious places on the planet
and in our hearts. Our daughters have grown up making
periodic trips to Big Sur. Now that we live with in an hour of this stretch of the coast and its Redwood forest canyons, we are there often and its appeal and magic grab us even more deeply.
Big Sur is also home to the legendary Esalen Institute, where my late brother John, a psychologist, conducted a seminar, one of the sessions of which took place in a hot tub. Yep, that is Esalen, with its history of bringing "an edge" to society.
Early evening and the sun is cutting slanted shadows on the east side of the ridge while the valley basks in full light.
This is the arena. Male turkey's proving who is the baddest in what is a late summer or autumn show. The battle has Hemingway and Luke riveted in their front row seats.
Hemingway continued to "stalk" the moving rumble.
No Marquis of Queensbury rules for these brutes. They brawl up and down an open space and even fight into the heavy growth in the back of the frame below-a thicket of echium. A video captures "the fight in the bush."
As I watched they paired, though occasionally the third hand, one is seen above, also gets drawn into the fray. The video of such a fracas is available below. I don't understand the protocol. There were two packs-3 turkeys in each, rumbling an hour or so before sunset. Two would duel in an attempt to lock the other's head in its mouth. They would twirl, trot and stagger as they fought. The third hand would appear as a referee, tagging in and out until he joined into the fight too.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
OF
THE BATTLE IN THE BUSH
These guys are a bit different that what lands on Thanksgiving tables huh? See you down the trail.
Republican Kevin Yoder, congressman from Kansas, apologized for taking a quick skinny dip into the Sea of Galilee while on a congressional trip last year. That he apologized is an honorable gesture, but unnecessary.
A quick and spontaneous jump into the sea, especially in a hot climate is perfectly fine. And if you are with friends or family and you dip naturale d'Au, why should anyone care?
A few moralistic bloggers have snorted as to how disgusting that is for an American congressman. Really? Why would that be? We came into this world naked. I understand why some of us may be embarrassed about how our bodies have turned out, but this was not naked beach volleyball. It was a dip into the ocean and the nudity was brief, long enough to immerse. I'd worry more about those who entered the sea, in clothing. And for those snooty and condescending bloggers, one of whom I heard interviewed on NPR, I suggest you read of some of Benjamin Franklin's behavior, when serving as a US Representative in France. I don't think his "cavorting" affected his impact on human history.
A dip into the sea with friends is no problem, no big deal, and none of your business. Leave the guy alone on this. Attack his politics and beliefs if you like, but not a skinny dip.
NOW, THIS CONGRESSMAN IS AN IDIOT
Todd Akin of Missouri should be an embarrassment to
to all Republicans, in fact to all males anywhere on the
political spectrum. There is no defense for his comments on rape. His party should run him out of sight. If he's not an idiot, he's just plain stupid.
You may have noted the questions raised in The Weekender :) by a friend who was fascinated with the succession issues involved with a queen bee. He is an exceedingly bright guy with a philosophical depth and curiosity. A life of government, politics and power gives him a particular skew and I was as intrigued by his questions and observations as I was by the incredibly fascinating and complex nature of the bee hive. It was fun when he moved to summary pondering with implications for the human animal.
Doesn't it make you consider nature's apparent ambivalence to violence? There is no negative stigma attached to the murder of the queen. We see drama there and have feelings about it, but these "feelings" have no place in nature, at least not in a bee hive.
When was it that human consciousness crossed this line -- before which "we" had no emotional or psychological reaction to violence and the death or ostracization of a "fellow" man. And how long after that did we rationalize these "feelings" with a philosophy or code that held that each life was valuable for its own sake -- and is this good? Or was it just a rationalization of emotions? (Surely the intellectual philosophy did not precede the emotional.)
The God of the old testament certainly wasn't big on the value of each individual life. He wipes people off the planet regardless of individual culpability in the flood. Or perhaps everyone WAS culpable -- as in Sodom and Gomorrah. But the Israelites go around surprise attacking every other people of the Levant until they control the ground. And in these battles, (not to mention the ones between Israel and Judea later, the men of whole towns were killed willy nilly just because they were there -- the only practical thing to do.
The development of conscience in this matter is just fascinating.
This sort of gets the brain in gear doesn't it? I wrote back to him that we obviously part ways with the instinctive order of succession, probably by virtue of something in our DNA. Do you think we are born with an aversion to killing or with some "code" wired into us that values life or navigates us to considering life sacred? Or is it all learned? Or both? Next time you see a bee hive, consider the rather matter of fact, by the book, order of power underway inside. Bet they don't debate philosophy. And another thought on this matter. This blue planet is dependent on bees being true to their nature. You can't say that for humans. In fact the planet would do just fine without us. We need the bees. They don't need us.
DAY FILE
ART SALON AT WISE OWL
Our friend Paulo, impresario of the Wise Owl, turned his wine bar patio over to local artists this weekend. Champagne, Proseco, sparkling wine flowed as tourists and Cambrians enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and a wide array of California art. In the frame below a group of friends and artists "hold forth."
Another adventure in the eclectic village. See you down the trail.
The WEEKENDER:) ponders the path we choose. Given choices, we decide which way to go, or what to do.
Here's an amusing example, forwarded by old pal and longtime social observer =w=. He is a frequent contributor to our comments section.
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?
FOR THE MORE ESOTERIC
The recent posts regarding the bee hive and the status of the Queen, brought an interesting set of questions from a friend, who has spent a career around power, politics and government. His is the small print questions in white blocks. The answers are from Michael Reddell, the beekeeper extraordinaire here on the Central Coast.
Would like to know more about how Queens are "made"
When one of three things happen, the bees begin to produce queen cells in the brood nest. When worker eggs are laid, they are fed royal jelly for a couple of days. After that, workers are then fed honey and fermented pollen. When they decide it's time for a new queen, they choose up to a dozen normal worker eggs and feed them royal jelly exclusively for their entire development. This is the single factor that distinguishes infertile workers from fertile queens in their development. The three things that trigger queen-making are:
Loss of the existing queen
Infertility or drone-only egg production by the existing queen
Over-crowding. This triggers the preparation for the division of the crowded hive into two hives. In order to have two hives there must be two queens, thus a new one is grown by the dietary change described above. This division process is known as swarming, and there's a whole separate discussion around that.
and how the hive knows to "kill" its queen -- who decides? does she go gracefully -- Inca style. Or kicking and screaming?
Anytime two queens encounter each other face to face, a deadly battle ensues. Usually the younger of the two prevails. In the case of overcrowding, about half the bees leave the hive with the old queen a few days before the new queens begin to hatch. If they stuck around, the new queen would kill the old queen and the swarm would not be able to leave.
In the cases where swarming is not the goal, the new queen kills the old queen. New virgin queens are relatively small and nimble compared to old laying queens and always prevail in battle. Also, the early age developmental task of a new-born queen is killing other queens. For the older queens that impulse is less intense, although always present to some degree.
Is there only ONE descendant candidate to replace the Q?
OR is their War of the Roses-style regicide in store for competing claimants?
Whenever the bees make a new queen, they grow around a dozen candidates. Usually, but not always, the first to hatch prevails, but when two or more hatch at about the same time, it's a bit like a wrestling match. The first to get an advantageous position in the struggle wins. Due to issues of anatomy, it's nearly impossible for two queens to sting each other simultaneously, meaning someone always prevails. Queens that are still in their queen cells are usually attacked and killed before they have a chance to get out of the cell. After all this, the new queen settles in for around 5 days before going on mating flights. She mates with several drones high in the air, then returns to the hive, never to leave again unless with a swarm.
So, is there something to take from this as regards human behavior and motive? The comments in response from my friend turn some difficult questions of their own. That, in a future post. See you down the trail.
A DAY FOR A SWEET AND SOUR POST THE SWEET COMES LATER THE "TOLD YOU SO" FACTOR?
The AP's Washington Bureau is out with an analysis that underscores what we all know. The recovery from the recession is weak.
It was about 3 years ago when economists and politicians were fretting over ways to recover that a dividing line was drawn. A group warned that plans on the table were inadequate, but others were screaming about the cost of the stimulus on top of bank and hustler bail outs. There was also the odd hysteria over the deficit. What came out of the political stew was a plan that seemed to the best informed (as I define them) a recovery plan that was bound to be weak and weaken even more, several quarters out.
A glut of housing, because of the "real estate idiocy" scam and crash meant that a normal recession rebounder-homes and building-was out. On top of that government spending at the federal, state and local level continued to be cut. It is lower now than it was 3 years ago. In addition the government has cut jobs, which on top of the already tall unemployment numbers is more bad ju ju. Three strikes against a robust comeback.
Folks may not like to admit it, but government spending has always been a shot in the arm for recoveries from recession. Less spending, and well, you see where it is. Especially critical when real estate and credit quarters remain weak. The stimulus plan was too short and short sighted, but political realities being what they are, the better alternatives never flew. Austerity in the face of a staggering economy is silly. We are seeing the effects of it now.
DAY FILE
SUCCULENTS
A couple of my old broadcasting pals have chided me for including so many images of plants in these posts. Before moving to the Central Coast, the only thing I knew about succulents was a cactus.
Lana has loved them forever. Her mother, a master gardener was into succulents. This is a perfect climate for them, so I am gaining a rapid appreciation. Their blooms, and some of the succulents themselves look other worldly.
Lana was particularly excited about the frame below-a bloom on a burro's tale. She says she's never seen one.
As you may recall when last we left our bee hive there
was concern that no Queen was in residence. The colony appeared healthy and vibrant, but no queen even though there was evidence that larvae might be present. "Odd" is how bee expert and advisor, Ian left things, "really odd."
Well, Ian and his mentor, 30 year bee keeper Michael, paid a visit to look things over. They even brought a Queen, in the carrier below.
Michael confirmed Ian's assessment, there indeed had been a Queen's cell, now abandoned. It is now useless.
As they continued to study the hive, they saw more signs of a Queenly presence, but not until they were well into the
hive did they make the great discovery.
There was Queenie-a nice sized and young queen. She is the large bee in the center of the frame. Though partially covered by wings, you can see she is larger than the others.
She is the large bee, again just below the middle of the frame. She is also more blond.
She's in the same relative location in both of the remaining frames.
Ian and Michael say she is "a good looking queen." Further inspection found more evidence of larvae, so the colony should be fine. But there is a fascinating back story.
They speculate this hive just recently, in the last day or two, made this queen. On first inspection we could not find her, because she is brand new, just born.
One of two things probably happened, the old queen either died, or quit producing off spring and was killed, so a new fertile Queen could take over. Both experts say it is better for a hive to produce its own Queen rather than bring one in from the outside. That is true to a point. After 3 or 4 generations, apparently the DNA or gene pool can be over drawn and you can begin to experience problems. More Bee drama in that case.
As the distant observer, I'm waiting for this hive of Blond Italians to start making enough honey that their documentarian can share the sweet goody.
BTW, I'm told they are a different group from our original Blond Italians who simply disappeared. They either were weakened from with in and were overpowered by marauders or simply swarmed away, for any number of reasons. Who knew the Bees were so much like human Royalty. Intrigue, inbreeding, palace coups, roaming bandits.
The drama buzzes here on the ridge.
See you down the trail. HERE IS A LATE POST SCRIPT-NOTICE THE COMMENT BELOW FROM MICHAEL, WITH SOME CLARIFICATIONS.
