Dolphins & Harry Connick Jr.
09-25-2010

Naia the Dolphin Magnet

Naia means Dolphin in Hawaiian and true to her name, our golden retriever seems to be a dolphin-magnet! Last Sunday morning was another gorgeous, sunny day down here on the coast, and we decided to take Naia to the beach before heading to the Jazz Festival.We drove to our favorite beach access point in Marina, to begin our run along the ocean. The parking area is about a quarter mile from the water, so we meandered over the little hill and headed down towards the shore. Since it’s a rather dangerous swimming area, this beach is rarely crowded even on a warm, sunny day.

Dolphins!

As our feet began to slide down the loose sand of the final ridge leading to the sea, my heart skipped a beat! I caught sight of 2 distinctive fins bobbing directly in front of us… just beyond the surf-line swimming parallel to the beach. They were heading north… the direction of our run!

Naturally, we sprinted down the hill and began running at the edge of the foam, in tandem with 2 bottlenose dolphins. Fortunately for me they were not in a hurry, so a slow running pace kept us in line with the dolphins as we headed along the shoreline. Naia can see and sniff dolphins when they swim close to the water’s edge, especially when there is an on-shore breeze.  She definitely shared our excitement– after all, how often do you get to go ‘running’ with dolphins?!

Reflections on the Sea

The sun was so bright it cast thousands of sparkles on the calm sea, and the clear sky afforded an easy view of Santa Cruz and the mountains across the bay. Every few minutes we would see the dolphins pop up for breaths of air, then glide gently under the soft surf.  Sometimes we would see their silhouettes in the sunlit waves as they lazily glided along the shore line. Occasionally they would surf a wave, instantly transforming into two large, silver-finned torpedoes.

After about 40 minutes, we noticed that there were more fins in the water, which we soon recognized as 3 more dolphins who had been swimming in the opposite direction. The converging dolphins came to a ‘swim still’, and seemed to congregate and compare notes.  One dolphin was sitting perfectly still, so close to the shore that we could almost touch its nose!

Jumping in feet first

So, we did what any dolphin-loving creatures would do… we jumped in the water with them!  Naia was the first in, since she didn’t have to take off her socks & shoes. Beto let out a yelp when he realized how cold the water was, but I have to admit I didn’t even notice the temperature. For several precious moments we all splashed & played in the ocean with the dolphins!

Soon afterward, the pod gradually turned and headed south, gaining a sizable head start on us. We hurriedly donned our soggy socks & shoes but we didn’t catch up to them until we were near to our starting point. They gave me good incentive to run faster… I discovered that I have a natural inclination to push harder when dolphins are the ‘carrot’!

We began our mild hike up the little hill, and as if on cue, the dolphins turned at a sharp angle to swim directly out to sea. We turned to watch as they began to splash & jump completely out of the water, further off shore, but directly in front of us. They frolicked & displayed their aerobatic talents for another 5 minutes before turning to swim north again, this time a bit further from shore. We clapped and thanked the dolphins for their light-hearted joy & inspiration!

Music, Laughter, and Full Bellies

We spent the afternoon nibbling on Cajun sausages (well Beto did anyway) and pizza at the Monterey Jazz Festival. We wandered among the stages catching musical glimpses of various jazz bands. Our favorite was the Newport All Stars, and we agreed that our parents would have enjoyed their music even more than us.

For me the highlight of the festival was the charismatic performance of Harry Connick Jr and his great big jazz band. I love the sound and feel of New Orleans, and he obligingly gave us a hearty ‘ole taste of the Big Easy. We clapped & snapped in rhythm to the lively music and laughed as band members danced across the stage. We couldn’t help butt (pun intended) compare Harry Connick’s hip wiggling antics to the full-body breaches of the dancing dolphins on the bay. Sorry Harry, the dolphins score way more points for style & grace! And yes, they are just as cute. Our fabulous weekend at the jazz festival culminated in an inspired show by jazz legend Ahmad Jamal.

Wow are we lucky!

The weekend combined all of our favorite things: diving with friends, whales, dolphins, great music, fun with Naia, delicious food, a run on the beach, and spending time together. Beto and I feel blessed to live by the ocean, near to everything that we love!

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