BLUE WHALE. HARD TO GET PICTURES

 

WHALE WATCHING

We went with the Ocean Club on a whale watching cruise out of Dana Point. I had just finished reading Richard Dana’s book “Two Years Before the Mast” which described his time in the early 1800s plying the West Coast from San Diego to San Francisco and so I was curious to compare our excursion to his. The same topography is there of course even with the increased population and buildings. We were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day and calm seas. (I had taken my Bonine just in case anyway.)

There have been many blue whale spotted on the route this summer and we were not denied that pleasure too. They summer in California and winter in Alaska. We saw several, some quite near our boat, Can you imagine, the blue whale is the largest animal to have ever existed, even larger than the dinosaurs? They grow to 98 feet long and weigh 200 tons. They are a baleen whale so have no teeth but their mouth is so large that it could hold a Volkswagon bus. Their spout shoots about 39 feet into the air so it easy to spot them. They usually travel about 12 miles per hour and live alone, not in groups like other whales. They usually don’t show their tail (fluke) when they dive so are not as dramatic as the dives of some other whales.

After the exhilaration of watching the whales, we cruised to Newport Beach and Balboa Island for lunch. The captain pointed out several of the wealthy homes that we passed, many of them occupied by movie stars. We had a few minutes after lunch to sightsee but since the shops next to the dock were mostly tourist types, we opted to head back to the boat for our leisurely cruise back home.

PELICANS ON RESTAURANT IN NEWPORT BEACH

 

ONE OF MANY ARE DISPLAYS. THIS ONE GERMAN ARTISTS

 

ADMIN BUILDING ON SOKA CAMPUS

 

REALITY

Our trip to Seattle awoke us both to the reality that we can no longer travel as we used to. We were both totally wiped out afterwards. We are not up to traveling long distances and my back pain and walking have gotten worse. So we have cancelled our planned two-week stay in an apartment in Venice, Italy. It was a sad decision after a year’s planning but also takes the stress off of us. We must be content with shorter trips closer to home.

To test this out, we traveled the six miles to the new Soka University to see an art exhibit there. Soka University is only ten years old and is a private, non-profit liberal arts college on 103 acres that overlook a wilderness park. It was started by a lay Buddhist organization dedicated to peace, education and cultural exchange. The non-sectarian interdisciplinary curriculum is student-centered with average class size at 13. About 60% of the students are from the US and 40% from more than 40 other countries. Everyone studies a non-native language and spend a junior year semester abroad that is included in the tuition. Students whose parents make less than $60,000 per year receive free tuition. My kind of college!

The art exhibit was of 16 German artists and I was hopeful that it would include one of my favorite artists, Feininger. It turned out to be contemporary artists however but still very interesting. Another floor had an exhibit of student work. The exhibits were located in Founders Hall that is built with same Italian stone as in the Coliseum in Rome. The copper dome on top is modeled after the Florence Cathedral.

While there, we also checked out the handicap parking and access to the Performance Arts Center. The new center has a 1000-seat concert hall that has acoustics designed the same as the Disney Hall. They are starting a concert program that features top artists at a very reasonable price. For example, Emanuel Ax will be playing at a price of only $23 per ticket (for seniors) on a grand piano that he donated. We are also going to hear a violinist who will perform on a Stradivarius.

We are also going to two concerts at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Irvine. They are through the Lovers of Music club here. They offer tickets at a group rate and furnish a bus to the Hall. This will be our local emphasis this year.

OVERVIEW OF THE CAMPUS IN LAGUNA HILLS

 

PEACE FOUNTAIN AT SOKA UNIVERSITY