The Story Behind the Picture and "The Joys of Simple Life"

Pelican in Flight, Small Bird resting, Sea Lavenders, the bluffs of Torrey Pines from Del Mar

The picture above is my favorite shot yesterday. Maybe some of you may think it may not look as pretty or as scenic as the other pictures I took from the same place yesterday,

Mix of Wildflowers and Pelicans ( taken from the same trail as the picture above on the same day)

but a lot of the times, when I look at my picture, I look back at the story behind. The first picture above was taken without a sense of planning nor composition, unlike the next picture that follows it. While we were walking back to Torrey Pines, a small bird came flying and perched on top of that pole that is on our path. I knew if we will continue, the small bird would have to fly away from our intrusion. Since the bird was there first, I decided to stop, and enjoy the scenery around me. 

Ice Plant

When I stopped, I started observing more, such as the folding of the ice plant blossom above. It was windy and chilly, thus despite it was middle of the day, the flower did not fully opened up. Ice plants do not grow tall, they crawl on the ground. As I knelt down to take this blossom a picture, I saw a lighting up the gray sky and focused my attention there for a while. Still on the ground and looking up, I finally noticed a very tiny hummingbird perched on top of a very skinny branch of a tree bush. 

Hummingbird

At first, the hummingbird did not look pretty, and it was simply resting there, I was not so excited to take a picture since I had a lot of hummingbird pictures already, and they were in action! But then, as the hummingbird changed direction of its sight and moved its neck to look in my direction, I saw the green changed to red! Then, it went back looking at the other direction, and I lost the red feather again. But to my surprise, the hummingbird kept on gazing back and forth, and it was like, "red...green...red...green...",

A Hummingbird showing its two distinct colors

maybe it tells, "you go...you stop....you go....". Life is not all about going and running, it is also about resting and savoring the joys of every moment. It was actually the very first time I saw a hummingbird simply resting on top of the tree, sitting there still, not flapping its wings and producing sound, it was just there, quiet, and maybe, just like me, savoring everything that nature brings its way. How I wished at that point I had brought my better camera and zooming lens to get the details of the hummingbird, however, because of weight, and considering I am taking a very local trail, I left my better camera and brought with me a lighter one. But then, I told myself, sometimes, I do have those gadgets, but I do not have the same experience. What makes the pictures more meaningful for me, is the experience and the joy it brings while being there and while connecting to the world that shelters me. Thus, I did not think about regretting not having the right camera, instead I focused on the joys of being there, and enjoying the gifts of nature. Then, my eyes went back to the direction of the pole where the small bird was resting. I saw a California brown pelican in flight above the small bird, so, I hurriedly took a picture of the meeting of those two birds, one resting, one flying, one small, one huge, but all part of one world, frozen in the bluffs of Torrey Pines with a field of sea lavender and coreopsis. 

wild yellow Coreopsis and purple Sea Lavender

As the pelican flew over the small bird, it continued to the water where later it took a dive. As it plunged into the water, some fins came out of the water, and there they were, dolphins! We see dolphins oftentimes when we walk this trail (like 6 or 7 out of 10 times ), but it is always a joy to see them especially if it feels that the pelican lead us to the dolphins, and it is that small bird that led me to follow the pelican. 

Dolphins As Seen From the Bluffs

At that time, I was no longer doubting why i chose to take the easier trail along the coastal bluffs from Torrey Pines to Del Mar. Morning, I was still confused where to hike, do we go for a steep hike on mountain slopes, or do we take the easier slopes along the coast? However, for the past 2 weekends, we had been spending our time outdoors exploring the snow-covered mountain slopes, 

that, after 2 weeks of leaving the ocean behind, I was missing the soothing and powerful sound of its waves. I usually would choose hiking/climbing the mountains for a more strenuous cardio-exercise, since climbing the slopes up over several thousands feet really makes our heart beat so fast catching up for air as you go higher and the air thinner. Though water exercise is also a very good cardiovascular activity, however, it is still too cold for me to spend hours in the water right now. Somehow, when it comes to swimming and boogie boarding, I wait until it's summer when the water is not as frigid. But just like camera, where there are times I put behind the better one in favor of a lighter camera, there are times also that I no longer consider the amount of cardio-vascular exercise I would get from hiking. There are times I seek the peace and joy that is being provided by the sound of splashing waves in the sea. Thankfully, our coast in San Diego have a lot of coastal bluffs for us to go uphill a little bit, though it may just be going uphill over 300 ft compared to several thousands of feet climb in the mountains, but we compensate for the lack of elevation by increasing the mileage in the distance we walk. We usually would start our hike up the bluffs at Torrey Pines State Reserve, and continue it up to Del Mar ( Dog's Beach) and back to Torrey Pines, or Torrey Pines to La Jolla Shores. This walk would give us almost 10 miles of walk back and forth with about 400 ft elevation gain. However, during high tide, we prefer to walk to Del Mar than to La Jolla because the bluffs going to Del Mar are so close to the water that we oftentimes see dolphins. 

Dolphins and Surfer, Will Their Paths Cross? 

It is a joy to be walking on the wildflower lined trail, 

with the dolphins swimming in the sea, and birds flying back and forth above us and diving into the water. 

Pelicans In Flight

A lot of the times, nature bring us more than rest, it teaches us that with slowing down, we get to enjoy its many surprises and not miss the pure joy and happiness of the simple things in life.

Let me end this post with a quote from the lyrics of the song "Simple Life" by Karl Kohlase,

"Living life can be hard today, I have to say it's so. But I have learned if I stop and pray I get the grace to go. And I have found by slowing down I have more time to live the simple life."

I am singing now :) You can listen to the song here if you are not familiar with it,

http://www.k4communications.com/karl/downloads/simplelife.mp3 ( no, this is not a paid post, I just love the song The Simple Life), and this song actually was one of the inspirations of this blog, unknown to most.

♥♥