Daily Archives: June 23, 2016

Stirring the Soup and Watching the Whales

Posted June 23, 2016 by Kerry McFall

“Oh, sure,” I told our friend Brett carelessly out on the deck the day before, “I’ve seen whales before.”  To be honest, off the Oregon coast, I’ve seen what might have been whale spouts a time or two, in between rain squalls that would choke a frog.  I’ve never really been able to just stand and watch because it was always freezing and/or windy.  But this!  The spouts came one after another, playful sprays, now here, now there, now two at once!  I squealed with delight and wonder, over and over, even seeing the glistening of huge bodies breaking the surface!   We all watched from the deck the first night we were here, marveling as the sea breeze calmed and the warm scent of eucalyptus trees floated up to us.  I stirred a thin spot in the bottom of the soup pan last night because, again, I just couldn’t stop watching.  Whales. Real whales! Close!  Whoa.

"Whales in Bolinas Bay", mixed media by Kerry McFall

“Whales in Bolinas Bay”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

"View from Mt. Tamalpais", mixed media by Kerry McFall

“View from Mt. Tamalpais”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

This place, this peninsula off the California coast, is magical.  Any time I’ve been here, it has revealed enchantments like nowhere else I have ever been, with the possible exception of Botswana.  I feel so fortunate to be here.  Brett chuckles at my painting, saying that the scale of the spout might be a little off… as if a 200 foot redwood had sprung suddenly from the sea.  No, that was exactly how big it was in my mind!