SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Those who know me know that it doesn't take much to make me happy. I go into Toronto on Monday and Thursday to work, so I'm out of the house by 7:15 and back at 6:30 - and have to say that I actually enjoy my commute! The GO Train is a great opportunity to read and the walk is a great time to get some fresh air, or when in the inside PATH system, to window shop! Since I started my new job a month ago, it has been dark when I leave the house, and dark by the time I get off the train and into my car to drive home - until yesterday! It was quite exciting to go to work in the light and come home in the light, it means that Spring is just around the corner, which means that Summer is on the way, which means that I will soon be able to ride outside and put the woolies in storage, yeah! Today showed more signs of Spring too, there were lots of birds, the mercury rose above freezing, the streets were wet, and I was outside without a jacket - life is looking up! Hope Spring arrives soon for everyone.

TWIGGY

One of my daily rituals, after I've done the Sudoku, jigsaw, and word games on philly.com, and after I've played the prairie scramble on cornergas.com, and after I've read the news and messages via e-mail, and after I've checked in to my friends blogs, I log on to theglobeandmail.com and scroll through the daily pictures.

Yesterday I came across Twiggy, a water skiing squirrel who was performing at the Tulsa Boat, Sport, and Travel show in Oklahoma. It was too amusing not to share. The picture was taken by Stephen Pingry.

LA PAZ, MEXICO

Well, I finally downloaded our pictures from our trip to Mexico back in October. Mom, Dad, Darin and I went to La Paz, on the Baja Peninsula, and enjoyed the sun and warm weather. La Paz was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, feeling a lot like a city instead of a town, so we rented a car and explored some of the peninsula. One of the places we went to explore was Todos Santos, home of the famous Hotel California, believed to be the subject of the Eagles famous song, but not. It is a beautiful town with lots of art, jewelry, and pretty buildings. We had lunch off the beaten path at a place that, although they had menus, only served fish soup.

The chef at the Hotel California happened to be a Calgarian formerly of Teatros who used to teach cooking classes, of which my parents had been students, so we said hi to Dany Lamot and headed to the beach that he told us about. We started on the highway and then made a 90 degree turn onto a dirt road that you'd miss if you weren't looking for it. It felt like we were driving through a rain forest, parked our car and then walked through a pretty cool forest as we made our way to the surfers beach. There were only a few other people on the beach and we enjoyed the solitude. On the way back we came across a huge rattle snack that we had to throw things at so we didn't have to drive over it. We would definitely go back to Todos Santos.

ESPIRITO SANTO

La Paz is known as THE destination during whale migrating season - unfortunately that's not in October, or November. During these months there are seals though, and every penny spent on this vacation was worth it for the day that we went swimming with the seals.

We started on main street in La Paz, the provincial capital, where we got onto a boat and made our way to Espirito Santo. Along the way our guide took us beside the shoreline of rocky islands, into and through some caves, and along the way we were approached by a pod of dolphins. It is one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. They came so close to us that if my arms were longer I could have touched them. They were beautiful, swimming in unison, surfacing, diving, they were stunning. Finally we made our way toward a pile of rocks about 2km long, covered in what looked like icing sugar, but was bird crap; and so we found ourselves at Espirito Santo.

We put on our snorkels, fell into the water and observed the fish underneath and the birds overhead. As we swam toward the island and got closer to the seals I could feel my heart start racing. Before I knew it there was a baby seal staring into my eyes. My arms were stretched out in front of me and I wasn't sure what to do, he was about a foot in front of me and I was a little scared of this furry little pup. He nipped my hand and then swum off. I looked around for Darin to tell him of my cool experience and saw that he was swimming and playing with another baby seal. So I found my seal and started diving and doing somersaults; we swam toward each other and away from each other, we played tag and did tricks. When I would surface to get some air and clean out my snorkel, he would pop his head up too and wait patiently for me, looking at me with his adorable brown dog eyes.

Every once in awhile a huge, mega, adult seal would swim by and I would freeze, thinking that if I didn't move he couldn't see me and therefore wouldn't attack - not that I would give him a reason to attack me, but the guys are massive - massively huge! We ended a perfect day on a beach with the best tuna salad sandwich ever made!

DORADO

On the last day of out trip Mom and I went shopping while Darin and my Dad went deep sea fishing - and the stories of what happened on their trip just keep on coming. At this point, the only person that really knows what happened is the guy who took them fishing. It was a really windy and choppy day which made it hard for the guys to keep their balance, so the story goes that Dad was on his knees as he kept falling over when he tried to stand up, while Darin had to use the "pussy" (some sort of equipment that helps the "fisherman" reel in the fish) to help him catch the fish.

Dad says Darin let most of the fish get away, while Darin says Dad let most of the fish get away - and the debate is still up in the air as to who caught the biggest fish. One story I believe to be true is this one: Darin and Dad had both caught a fish and Darin was examining them closely, trying to decide which one was bigger. When he returned to where Dad was sitting, who had been watching Darin out of the corner of his eye, and didn't say anything, Dad knew that his fish was the bigger of the two. Darin would say that they were the same size, and the debate rages on.

We all enjoyed the fish, very tasty! We bought a cooler and ice so that we could take it home with us and after a night in the freezer we packed it up and went to the airport, only to be told by airport officials that we weren't allowed to take ice on the plane, who knew? Luckily the fish stayed frozen and we enjoyed more great meals during our week in Scottsdale.