On the Way Down; On the Way Back

We went to Ian's memorial gathering on Sunday. In our own wacky preparation for such things, we stopped on the way down to watch the sea otters and shorebirds, to delight in the vibrant and essentially basic things of life. It's the only balance we know. Luckily, there were several sea otters lounging about (don't they always lounge? what a life!) quite close to the bluff that overlooks Moss Landing harbor. They were so relaxed, we watched them engaging in their own sea otter playfulness. I just had to shoot a short video of it:

The memorial service was incredibly touching. Ian's friends spoke of a young man full of integrity and honesty, of deep decency and political insight, and an ardent consumer of very good highs! He was a wild man DJ who was respected and dearly loved. What a good thing it was to hear such constancy of integrity in a young man's life. Ian's brother said how relieved he was to know that Ian had found his tribe. And yes, this tribe had gathered to say their farewells.
On the way home I kept my eye out for the golden eagle we had seen on one of our earlier trips down to see Ian. I remembered the cow pasture and the far fencing where it had landed. Sure enough, that magnificent creature was there again perched on a fence post. Roger pulled over and stopped so we could take a better look. Oh it was far away, but that didn't stop me from trying.
The cows were rather intrigued and kept their inquisitive eyes on us. Shortly before we drove off, they came down to the fence to see if maybe we might have something delicious for them. We had to apologize and move on. Such is life.