Meanwhile I ran a few errands and went to the local lake park with Splash.
Tranquil and Serene. Or so it would seem. But Pinto Lake is anything but.
If I were to humanize it I would have to call it a beautiful but deadly killer sporting a Virgin Mary tattoo. This is the most toxic lake in the state of CA. Seriously. Or it was as of January this year. It seems that ag run off coupled with surrounding septic system drainage and geological characteristics have made it a perfect breeding ground for a particularly poisonous form of algae to thrive which has killed livestock, pets and sea otters. I think I will heed the signs and will absolutely and positively not swim nor will I go anywhere near the water for that matter.
A verdant green sentinel standing watch by the signs warning of the waters deceptive appearance.
At its base was a hollow. It reminded me of a scene in the never ending story where Atrayu finds himself meeting the gmork ( I find myself referencing that movie on occasion. another for instance.. just last night watching Snow White and the Huntsman I cried out "ARTAX!" when Snow Whites horse hit the quicksand. And then later, I was pointing out that a turtle was Morla"...Anyway.. there was this cave-y part under the tree and I crept closer.. The Gmork doesn't scare me!.. and took a picture into it. The flash went off and I assumed the entire picture would be totally washed out due to over exposure. I was not expecting to find this in my gallery when sitting down to write this blog. But this is what I caught. I have not made any alteration to this image at all.
Do you see what I see? The perfect eye staring out from behind green hair? I could study the face and rock hand forever but in the end I assume it is a... Teenage Mutant Ninja Tree Spirit!! (Now that song is going to be stuck in your head FOREVER!)
And what about this Virgin Tattoo I spoke of? Pinto Lake is one of those wondrous places where the Virgin Mary appears on a tree. There is a shrine to "Our Lady of Watsonville" I didn't know the history at this point and from a distance it looked like a flower vender. A bit closer I saw the candles. At that point we veered away, to let those paying homage do so without intrusion.
Eventually we found ourselves on the baseball field bleachers. Splash sleeping at my feet while I drew an anarchy promoting elf princess in my notebook. (Connor and I recently took in an art lesson drawing elf faces. I thought Id practice. )
Interesting place all told with great trees. I suspect I will hang out there on occasion and probably start practice my disc golf.
On a side note..Tune in!! Now that I have upgraded and rejoined the digital world, I have stumbled upon the TuneIn App. This little guy will bring you radio stations from all over. Yes, I said radio.. commercials and all. But it brings me KRML a local radio station which I can't get at home any other way. This station has been my relief during local car drives and has given me ample good new music to chew on but in the car its hard to pick up title and artist info for me to add important Pandora stations.That is no longer the case. For Streaming Music KRML has just about replaced my pandora. I have yet to dig deeper on the app but it looks like I can get my hockey updates through it as well as consolidate some podcast listening through it. Adding a little sweetness to my ears.
