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Desert tortoise surveys, Las Vegas, NV
by Eve Bohnett
Steve saw it first.
He was standing in front of me, the usual and required 100 ft, taking notes as we traversed the Nevada range. His pen moved quickly over the clipboard questionnaire he held before him. In a little while, we would be handling the specimens, Desert Tortoises, if there were any, and take their measurements and leave them where we found them. There we would evaluate, document location information, and measure with calipers, and scales. If everything was acceptable, fill in the clipboard and document another individual for a pre-construction survey.
Steven was jotting down items about general topography when the glitter caught his eye.
“I saw something” he said.
He flicked his head over back towards the light.
“Saw what?” I asked from behind him.
“Didn’t you see a flash?
I looked into the desert.
“We went over a lake, you know,”
“No, it wasn’t that,” Steven said “It was in that clearing beside the lake.”
His fingers scribbled out the last few notes on the clipboard and he dropped the distance line to head over to the site.
“Keep your eyes open now,” I said. “Make sure. We haven’t got any time to waste.”
Steven kept his gaze on the spot, watching the churro cacti, and Joshua trees begin to bake in the hot sun. He was thinking that maybe the moment had arrived at last; the moment in which a Desert tortoise will emerge and begin to sunbathe. Sunbathing is their daily pastime between 5am to about 8am, before they go back into their shaded burrow.
“There!” he face said. “There it is!”
He looked over at me. I was gazing into that direction. My face bore the usual discerning and tired 6am shadow.
He watches me impatiently, watched my fingers begin to scribble notes.
“Okay, let’s take the readings,” I said. “I have the compass right here, you’re at two degrees east”.
Steven whipped out the clipboard, got out various weights and calipers. I got out the measuring tape and got a measurement of how far away the tortoise was from our transcect line.
It was a tortoise. Or what was left of a tortoise, apparently it had been completely gnawed by a coyote. The tortoise was okay, but the shell was in bad shape scratched and gnawed. Pieces of the top had been chipped off by the attack and what was left was a rather mutilated outer shell. It was as if some enormous child had lost fancy with the toy and had dropped it to earth, stamped on it, banged on it with insanely with a rock. Crows often employ that strategy to kill tortoises as well.
I shuddered. It had been a long time since we’d seen a tortoise. I’d almost forgotten the other immediate threats to the habitat of the tortoise driving it to endangerment, pavement, road construction, road kills, and the enormous Las Vegas city growth in the past 19 years. This tortoise reminds me of the natural treat for the tortoise, predation.
“Can’t say much,” Steven said. “But I’d say this little guy is going to make it.”
I was about to speak, and then changed my mind.
I closely inspected the spot in the tortoises side where the shell had been laid open along the tough seams. We handled the tortoise, got measurements, and continued on our 12km morning hike.I stood by the tortoise looking out at the silent desert landscape. The sun was quickly rising. The burning rays of the sun glinted off the skin of the tortoise. I turned away. I looked at the outside temperature gauge. Already it was 84 degrees, and it was only 7am.
We had seen similar tortoises that had been rescued and taken to the Desert Tortoise relocation area.They are brought from proposed construction sites when they’re found are taken to relocation areas. The tortoises don’t stop the bulldozers, and I’m certain that most tortoises found on a construction site are invisible to the workers. Many the tortoises die from relocation only, and many more of the population will die from overcrowding and competition. Natural threats such as drought affect many of the relocated tortoises. Recovery plans are drafted in many natural areas, next to roads or facing other threats, but the data is often taken within several years, and does not accurately speak of the last 10 thousand. Desert tortoise relocation data is even more elusive, and rarely published due to high range of mortality data between 10-50% deaths.
The Great Basin Institute is trying to estimate desert tortoises in their natural range by random quadrat sampling. The data from various states is not consistent or comparable.The original crash of populations is due to numerous factors including disease, crushing by vehicles, military and suburban development, habitat degradation, and predation by dogs and ravens. Because of its dwindling numbers, the desert tortoise, which is California’s official state reptile, is now protected under both federal and California’s endangered species acts.
The impending construction threats are for large scale solar construction. For which there have been numerous lawsuits, and public outcry due to construction in the best desert tortoise habitat resulting in relocation of several hundred tortoises at a time.
Silence. We went back to our transect line and picked up the distance pole. Steven let out a long breath. Let her complain, he thought, I can take anything now.
Then I happened to glance at Stephen.
Stephen was thinking. His tall, muscular stature sulking in the desert. He said something to himself. I found myself being watched.
“Eve,” He said.
“What?”
He picked up the distance pole, and began walking back to the car. According to our GPS we were off track. We had been thrown off track by an impassable mountain range. Navigating backcountry on foot can be confusing, luckily we had GPS locaters, and terrain maps where we could track our movements.
“I’m going to take us back easy,” He said to me. “There’s no reason why we should have any trouble. “
“Are you ready?” He asked.
I motioned to go, and we began walking through the alien morning landscape. An exhausting 5 hours in the desert. Finally, we reached the truck. At the beginning of projects like this one, it feels like we’re doing something for the environment, and in the end it feels like we’re doing something for logging or construction companies.
Whether or not the data we collect will be used to actually save the tortoise is negotiable. The politicians know this is all happening, and are informed.
Since the subprime mortgage crises, the huge construction projects done for multiple large scale apartment buildings financially crashed and burned. Signs that were littering the airspace for low interest condo prices, got lowered even more. Now condo prices are at one third of what they were before the crisis. Las Vegas is overdeveloped and unsustainable to begin with. Now, the housing prices are still dropping, and are predicted to drop until 2012. Now, empty condos, unemployment, and no one vacationing at the casinos left Las Vegas a desert. The crashing economy may have been the best thing to happen to the desert tortoise, until solar construction became the next biggest trend.
“Why don’t we stop kidding ourselves?” Steven said. “We all know what is it, don’t we?”
“Progress,” he said bitterly, and his voice was an aching whisper in the phantom city.
Santa Cruz Short Story (Fiction)
by Eve Bohnett
Of course, Marie, who was old enough to know something, knew nothing when the world changed, and everything flipped. Nothing was for certain, and almost everything could change, especially if you're a young artist, musician, or visionary tripping through the Santa Cruz community instead of at a 9-5 job.
Upon arrival back to Santa Cruz, all she said to me was, “Oh I hardly recognized you. You still always go to Cafe Gratitude, right?”
“Cafe Gratitude?” I asked, feeling like an exception to the rules. The rest of Santa Cruz has been adrift; everyone flipping out of the past or future into the present here and who knows where. After 10 years in the same place, everything goes on. Nothing gets lost. That’s what’s important. “Of course, we’re heading over there right now.”
“Really,” said Marie, as she drapes her prayer beads around her neck. “Who do you know that’s still around?”
I find myself spending more time at Divinitree chanting kirtan and at Staff of Life market drinking tea than anywhere else here in Santa Cruz, but standing still with Marie I could not help but remember. "They come and go", I add, "Maybe a Rasputin or a klezmer from the future will take their place." Standing with Marie she looks like a new age yogic time traveller, wearing yoga ayahuasca print clothing and gemstones. We sit, sip tea, and eat raw vegan pie.
The world goes on, business almost as usual. The weekly Wednesday farmers market outside is a carnival; filled with strange faces, and a variety of jewelry makers, organic farmers, acupuncturists, shamanic priests, University students, etc. There is a thick, rich patina of sophisticated culture here. People whirl around us. The community here is a kaleidoscope of colors, melting into different characters as the people stroll through the market.
Marie and I move through the crowds. Marie is spending more time on the streets, and was putting the world together, seeing where it was, where it might be, and might not be. Sometimes people momentarily run free, only to trip somewhere else where they are again grabbed and worked until they can trip again, and again and again until old logic falls apart. The Beach flats were a bad part of town. The city parks and green belts have been turned into havens for squatters.
Therefore, Marie did nothing but pray. She spent most of her time on the beach praying for a sign and tripped over a book of apocrypha stories that was stuck in the sand. Before her was the ocean. Time is a hole, she thought, and she could feel it’s pull. Nighttime was no longer dark. Everything circled with the crystal light and prayer. A closer look at the cliffs by the shore revealed caves and hideouts cut into the sandstone. Where else was there to be?
Perhaps tomorrow she’ll do crystal healing or play the flute, finding old friends in communal houses. Today, she’ll sit and connect with the ocean.
Romantic Getaway, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA
by Eve Bohnett
In between the California coast and the greater San Jose area is a huge wildlife corridor that is perfect for a romantic getaway from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, or San Jose.With millions of inhabitants, the San Francisco Bay area has apparently has better things to do because there are relatively few visitors. Most of the area has been preserved as state or county parks down to the coast, and staying through an entire weekend will no doubt include camping at one of the several state parks, or at Stillheart, a retreat center that also holds yoga and meditation classes. There are several places I can recommend as great destinations in the Santa Cruz mountains to have tea, take a hike, and have dinner all while intermittently enticing your date.
1.In the morning, visit Hakone Gardens for the Urasenke traditional Japanese tea ceremony 9am-1pm Friday and Saturday morning. There is a five dollar entrance fee to enter the gardens. Located in the foothills outside of Saratoga, and established in 1915 is this unique and beautiful Japanese garden and cultural center. In fact, it’s one of the oldest Japanese gardens in America, and they have pruning and maintenance of the Japanese plants as a community classes as well. Hakone Gardens is often the site for weddings, banquets, and other special events, because it is so scenic and idyllic. There are also several special events including Japanese Opera, Film events, and annual festivals. If you’re looking for a place to have a deep zen romance, this is the place. The koi pond, zen gardens, tea rooms, bamboo, and art galleries can induce a reflective meditation where you don’t need to express love or even say anything to each other.Be in each other’s presence; honor the present moment and when the moment calls recite a romantic haiku.You can be reserved and not let your emotions spill out all over the place and create a romantic deeper meaning, like a bonsai, condensed and potent.
2.In the afternoon, take a hike and pick flowers along Russian ridge Open space preserve. Take a picnic, bring water, and stop by a winery on your way up and pick up a bottle of Santa Cruz mountains wine. There are several wineries on the way from Hakone Gardens to Russian Ridge, and usually have wine tastings if you feel so inclined. Russian ridge is up on the ridge and looks down to the ocean. There are several springs and waterways in this area that create a lush environment. These gorgeous rolling hills are cartoonish and surreal because of the shapes of the hills and the dispersion of the meadow vegetation.Follow the winding trails and around every bend there are stunning views of these picturesque grassy hills.There are 8 miles of mostly uphill trails in this part of the park, and let’s make exercise romantic. At certain moments, I feel like I'm hovering above clouds when the mist fills the canyons.The wildflowers on Russian Ridge are diverse, unique to this area, and explode in the spring and fall. Some favorites include lupine and california poppy, gumweed, mules ears, farewell-to-spring, and brodiaea. Who needs a flower shop when you can pick a few native wildflowers for a native flower bouquet. Russian Ridge is a popular site to view raptors, and we saw several while we were out there including one gigantic Red Tailed Hawk.
3.In the evening, make reservations and enjoy gourmet dining at The Mountain House in Woodside. It is a long wooded drive from every direction, and nestled deep within the protection of ancient redwood trees. With a bar and fireplace in the front of the building you can enjoy a casual evening of drinks or venture sit in the formal dining area. If you get there before dark you can enjoy the earthy ambience of a redwood view in the back forest room, and they also turn on viewing lights after hours to highlight and enchant. If I were to recommend a dish, any of the specialty wild game dishes will serve your interests well. This unique restaurant has a wild game special that makes this place exotic for the area, and people drive for over and hour to dine here all of the time. At the table next to me, one woman had driven from Fremont and frequents the restaurant often. She mentioned the warm lighting and beautiful location as reason enough to visit. The weekly menu ideas coupled with culinary expertise make this place stand out. Also, waitstaff dresses to impress and they deliver on class and quaint elegance. While waiting for your food, this is the perfect time to engage in friendly conversation, hold hands, and write romantic poetry about your romantic Santa Cruz mountains visit on your placemat.
Now that the evening is coming to a close I suggest driving to nearby Skeggs point for an after dinner make-out. The lookout overlooks all of San Jose. Since you are far outside of any city, you can see the entire sky and sky gaze, or gaze into each others eyes.A visit to the Santa Cruz Mountains doesn’t happen by accident, and neither does romance.
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Beltane, Santa Cruz, CA
by Eve Bohnett
At dawn, I awaken and hear people still sitting around the campfire. I am unable to recognize their voices, and some are playing guitar. A while later, I step out of my tent and venture towards the strangers. The magic of the fire brings us together, so I greet them and relish the beauty of the morning. This time of morning is perfect for gathering morning dew for sacred altar water because of the alchemy of the subtle morning lights. The campfire and campsites were beautifully situated, deep in an old growth redwood grove with a spring flowing through them. The Pagan Celtic festival celebrating fire, light, and fertility is situated at the halfway point between spring equinox and summer solstice. The festival is called Beltane. The pleidies star cluster rose before sunrise this Beltane morning. By the saffron-hued morning light, the festivities of last night seemed merely something I had dreamed.
We had arrived the previous evening for the heart song circle around the campfire, or formally "Beltane Eve". There was a new moon, and the darkness thoroughly enveloped everything but the fire. In the old days, on Beltane Eve, the Celts would build two large fires lit from sacred woods. These fires are an invocation to Bel (the Sun God) to bring his blessings, and is symbolic of the burning away of the winter. It is also said that on Beltane Eve, the Queen of the Faeries is said to arrive on her white horse, and entice everyone to come to Faerieland. Now in the vibrant summery morning light, the songs I heard around the campfire last night were still echoing on the land and in my ears.
The spirits of Beltane are slowly awakening out to play. The rumor was that the preparations for the ceremony would begin at 11am. Two boys approach me with small snakes, with one in each hand. They were up early, crowing with the roosters, at the top of their lungs; literally yelling as loud as possible. Dragon, my partner, found a sleeping spot out in a meadow where he is sleeping in the sun half naked. There are white cattle jumping about freely in the meadow. I let my gaze wander from the west to east, from the meadow to the cabin. Black smoke from the campfire curls lazily into the sky. There are faeries and goddesses and phantasies everywhere about. Several of the travelers that I had met the night before are awake eating breakfast, and preparing for the ritual. Everything is here, and all of it perfect, the cauldrons for the fire, the shrines and groves, the flower petals scattered about by the children: a splendid Beltane village.
Once again, I find myself swept by admiration for the magical way these people carry out their creation of the ceremony here in Santa Cruz, California. I've been to several different celebrations here, and they are very ceremonial, and traditional. Santa Cruz has a large pagan community that stems from the influx of 60's bohemian hipppies, and they used to hold pagan plays where the roaring camp train station is today. I met several people from other countries last night, including Mexico, UK, and Israel, each of them wandering from city to city as the whim took them, and surprisingly happened upon this celebration. I imagine that around the Middle Ages in European countries, a newborn village would congeal for the Beltane festival, and travelers would visit from hundreds of miles away. Back then, every village had it's own maypole , and it is traditionally a revered symbol. Dragon wakes up when presented with an orange, and tea. He gets dressed in a shiny red shirt, pants and a royal gold robe. He is dressed like an emperor, and carrying a demeanor to match. Catching him lightly by the wrist I draw him towards me, meaning to brush my lips lightly and affectionately against his. Many people arrive with flowers and ribbons to begin preparing for the festivities this afternoon; which includes facepaint, transclucent faerie wings, and flower garlands made from calla lilies and roses. We prepare our flower crowns using bits of wire to secure the flowers. Dragon's crown gets named the "DMT stag" because of the flower horns coming off the side. The musicians begin playing elfin music with mandolins and flutes, and dancers swirl in the preparations. Everyone seems to be transformed into a mythical being.
The Beltane ritual is about to begin, so a large conch shell is blown to bring everyone together around the campfire. The high priest and high priestess in royal ceremonial attire begin the ceremony, and several speakers tell stories of Beltane symbology and meaning. From someone close at hand came a sound of a drum, and steady insistent chanting. We all sing along. The group hiked out to the location for the ritual, walking through the redwood grove, past a small wetland pond to a meadow. We all form a circle, have introductions, and call in the four directions. The ceremonial Beltane fire is brought over via a torch, and several candles are lit, one for each direction. These candles are passed around so each person can connect with the Beltane fire.
Beltane is a fertility festival as well, and relationships are honored at this festival. A young sultry lady begins singing a song of her desire for her lover, and she weaves in between the members of the circle. One of the men follows her, chasing her. Her lover is trying to catch her. They continue this frolick for a moment until at the height of her song, he tackles her and wrestles her to the ground kissing her. This couple is the May King and Queen. They are a young and attractive couple together for several years, and announcing their wedding date. There is time to give announcements, including weddings, births, deaths, new projects including asking for empowerments for the coming year. Sparkling nectar is served in small cups which we pass around the circle, and drink in the hot sun. Inwardly, I'm celebrating the union between my partner and I. We've been together for 2 1/2 years already, there are the sweetest moments of love and joy that makes enduring the difficult times a gem worth coveting. Everyone shouts and exclaims their blessings together in unison "Ya-Fatah" after every announcement.
After honoring the circle with an OM, the men and women separate into groups to prepare to bring in the Maypole. The ladies group huddles together. There are about twelve women gathering together. This is the time to speak of what we are thankful for as women, such as motherhood, and to sing folk songs. We are sitting around the hole where the Maypole will go, and it's decorated with garlands and candles. The women finally call the men to bring in the maypole. The Maypole is symbolic of uniting the three worlds. It is also a phallic symbol that is meant to bring the energy of the three worlds down into the womb of mother earth. This pole is 16ft long, and all of the men assist in bringing it over to the place in the Earth where it will be set.
Uniting the Three Worlds blurs time and space, clearly this is another realm. Everyone ties a multi-colored ribbon to the pole and the pole is pushed into place, ready for the Maypole dance. Beltane songs are sung while weaving the Maypole, and everyone walks in and out, weaving the ribbons together. I dance in trance while singing, and find myself getting the flower crown on my head flipped up in the ribbons, and the metal wires holding the crown together dig into my head. Everyone is dodging in and out to weave the ribbon, and we get crammed together. People are jammed, someone's confused about the weaving, or going too slow. Dragon's smiling, standing off to the side not participating, but watching this event take place of the faerie, elf pileup. Finally, the maypole dance is flowing, and everyone singing. A drum circle forms off to the side with djembe and doumbek drummers. The drummers drum louder and louder. The maypole is weaved together in a rainbow. I stand back from the maypole, admiring the lacy fantasy of slender pastel -hued webwork everyone created around the pole, and celebrate an abundant year ahead. The maypole dance lasted a lot longer than we had expected, and now with the sun gently dimming the skylight we are reminded to honor the fire once again.
The next step in this ritual is to jump across, or to circumambulate the fire three times. Meditate on fire for transformation of energy, to burn away things from the past and cleanse the body, physically, and spiritually. This step is to bring good luck in the year ahead, and to also become purified. This makes me very nervous because the fire seems too high to jump over. Some of the ladies begin dancing, giggling, and circumambulating. Others stand aside and watch the fire. It's a difficult task we're undertaking, best done naked? I'm standing there thinking about all of the bad habits that I want to get rid of, and all of the residue from the previous year that I'd like to leave behind. I jump. The secret to this part of the ritual is that the moment your feet hit the ground you're a new person for the year ahead. The darkness of the sundown is filling the forest with shadow, and I try to make it back to the cabin by myself, winding through the trails.
Back at the camp, the campfire from last night is still lit. Musicians gather and play a mix of banjo, persian clarinet, and guitar, and the music is mystic. Sitting by myself near the fire, I'm reminded of the countless fireside circles I've been a part of that have touched my heart. The mystic solitude I feel while listening to the sounds around the fire remind me of the blessings that fire brings. Fire is sacred to the Beltane festival, and honored for the many transformative qualities it brings into our lives.
Dragon smiles. After staying out at the campfire last night, he’s finally feeling awake by the campfire. We’re singing songs, and he seems more vibrantly alive than ever. He reaches for my hand, kissing it lightly, offering to bring me another cup of chai.
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Santa Cruz Coast Tour, CA
by Eve Bohnett
Santa Cruzians enjoy themselves in a very vertical and horizontal landscape including the structure of 200 ft. tall Redwood forests the vast views and beaches along the Monterey Bay. There are a number of beaches and natural areas of interest along the coast. In addition to the coast, other points of interest include spiritual retreat centers, sauna and spa houses, tea houses, wine bars, numerous music and night clubs, dance, yoga and qi gong classes, and plenty of lodging choices.
Santa Cruz is considered part of the southern San Francisco Bay area, but actually sits on the nortnern edge Monterey Bay. Santa Cruz is well secluded because the Santa Cruz mountains dissect it from San Jose.When one is beginning in San Francisco, driving along Highway 1 South along the Pacific Coast, and nearing the boundary of Santa Cruz County one enters a scenic route to many State park excursions. The State Park system sprawls east of Highway 1 until the Santa Clara/San Jose boundary. South of San Francisco there are nearly 60 miles of state park along the coastal zone.
The beaches right before boundary for the Santa Cruz county line include Ano Nuevo State Park (with annual Dec-March. Northern Elephant Seal breeding) and Gazos Creek, which both border the Butano state park property that goes deep into the Redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Continue south deeper into the forest and Big Basin Redwoods State Park is the last remaining old growth redwood forest of the county, as well as 18,000 acres of second growth pine forest.
According to the University of California, Santa Cruz, there are several hundred mountain lions living in this area. There is a Skyline to Sea trail from the mountains to the coast and reaches Waddell Creek Beach, where hang-gliders and wind surfers pepper offshore with colorful parashutes. Following Hwy 1 south past agricultural fields along the marine terraces, one reaches Davenport, a small town with a few local restaurants and inns.
Once entering the greater Santa Cruz metropolitan area, Wilder Ranch State Park has beautiful walking trails and meadows, and following a few turns Natural Bridges State Beach is the off Hwy 1 towards the coast. Natural Bridges in the Santa Cruz suburban area, and hosts monarch butterflies in the Eucalyptus groves migration every October to March. A few miles from Natural Bridges visitors can find the Seymore Aquarium and Marine Laboratory full of educational exhibitions and docent led tide pool viewings.
Driving along West Cliff drive, with suburban homes backing up to beachfront properties with large open windows, the low cliffs give way to the beach and is accessible at various pullouts via stairways and trails.
The Lighthouse Field State Beach hosts a Surfers Museum, annual surfer festivals, and boasts of 40 acres of scenic beachfront meadows, and viewpoints that serve as a greenbelt to the suburban surrounding areas. This area can become quite crowded as it is in the middle of a populated area, but never the less this area is full of wildlife such as Brown Pelicans, Red-Tailed Hawks, Double Breasted Comorants, Bottle Nosed Dolphins, Grey and Humback Whales, Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals, Sea Otters, and Sea Lions can be spotted from various picnic tables and benches.
The San Lorenzo River flows to the beach through a long valley in between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the coastal mountains and reaches downtown Santa Cruz providing a walking trail along the riverine corridor .
The oldest amusement park in California, the Beach Boardwalk is near the end of the San Lorenzo river, and has multiple roller coasters and arcade buildings on a sandy beachfront.
Adjacent to the Beach Boardwalk is the Santa Cruz Fishermans Wharf, with fresh seafood restaurants and elephant seals living on the wooden rafters below the decks which howl and groan throughout the evening.
Recreation activities such as beach sports, fishing trips, boat rentals, scuba diving, kayaking, and surfing are popular via the various equipment rental outlets for exploration of the Monterey Bay.
Within walking distance of the Boardwalk, Pacific avenue is the main street of downtown, where one can easily stroll into various stores holding imported treasures from all over the world, peruse the Wednesday farmers market, or engage the highly active nightlife at bars and clubs. Artists, liberal activists, environmentalists, alternative healers have practice here since the hippy movement of the 60's, and the social culture is lively with music and art events. The Santa Cruz neighborhoods have prominent Victorian homes, where no detail is spared on elaborate historical house painting or upkeep.
Student culture is about one tenth of the population and the University of California, Santa Cruz is a large spread out campus with buildings nestled within the Redwood forest on the hilltop overlooking Santa Cruz. Annually in the Summer, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, performs two to three plays in the Redwood grove ampitheaters at the campus. Also worth visiting is the large UC arboretum and sustainable agroecology farm on the campus.
South of Santa Cruz downtown, the City of Capitola is a quaint seaside resort and boutique shopping area with many craft galleries, family owned wineries and restaurants, reminding one of an esplanade in the South of France, or Italy.
On the outskirts of the Santa Cruz metropolitan area, the Sunset Beach State park is a 7 mile long beach that contains the gigantic 200ft tall Pajaro Dunes, surrounded by seasonal farmland. At the Southern edge of the County, Elkhorn Slough is one of only 17 National Estuarine Research Reserves, and is the largest of protected coastal wetlands in California. It has a varienty of habitats including tidal mudflats, freshwater ponds, tidal sloughts, salt ponds, among others. There are numerous professional charters, and guided tours available to view the spectacular bird and wildlife viewing in this area.
Underneath the waters of Monterey Bay, beginning roughly at the boundary between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, there is a deep submarine canyon equivalent to the size of the Grand Canyon. The canyon supports abundant food web via coastal upwelling of cold waters and nutrients from deep inside of the canyon that support the phytoplankton. It is also one of the largest kelp forests in the nation. This canyon is roughly 6000ft deep, and 95 miles long, and is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary which is the largest Marine Sanctuary in the United States stretching from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.
Mantak Chia Training, San Francisco, CA
by Eve Bohnett
This is an opinion that may cause throbbing of veins and empurpling of complexions but here goes: being a healer is a path of dimensions. I feel that this is something I should qualify now. I therefore urge you to understand that I’m not about to engage that bodywork sessions need to have divine intervention to have healing, and I’m not saying that a spa with a bathroom bigger than your entire apartment isn’t marvelous for healing (it is). The energetic of physical healing is a given. It’s recognizing the problem, and breaking bad habits to heal that is tricky. Mantak Chia’s Universal Healing Tao system integrates a system of therapeutic energy bodywork and meditations designed to invigorate the energetics of the physical body by slapping, exercising, massaging, and meditating deeply on the organs and their functions. I attended a two day Chi Nei Tsang Workshop and also a third day of darkroom meditation during his North America tour through San Francisco Bay Area. His center is in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at the retreat center called Tao Garden Health Spa and Resort, where there are Universal Healing Tao courses and workshops.
Right now, I’m pretty healthy. My body is slim and somewhat muscular, and a metabolism which doesn’t really let me gain wait no matter how much I eat or drink. Every now and again I notice beneath the surface of my body there are rubbery dendritic knots, lumpy organs, and clusters of dead cells. I turn twenty nine years old next month, and it’s time to shake it off!
I’m talking specifically about what has become energetic therapy as you generally see- or, I’m willing to bet, far more often ignore- in the depths of your physical body. To an even greater degree than other visualizations of an increasingly healthy society, Mantak Chia’s works are beholden to the idea that energy in the body called Qi, which gives your organs direction and fluids movement, is the root cause of disease in the body when it becomes stagnant, deficient, or blocked. The workshop ties everything into a general theme that macrocosmic Qi that enters the body and dynamically flows through the tips of the extremities and expands to form a river into the internal organs via channels. These Qi channels receive the cosmic influence and transmit it throughout the body.
In addition, medical practices of Mantak Chia’s Life Force Massage in Taoist healing are firmly dissected into medical books on Chi Nei Tsang, Qi Gong, Acupuncture, etc. Hearing him give a seminar was reminiscent of my experiences in the biology department at the university learning anatomy and physiology, with many informational slides showing direction of the lymph, the soaz muscle, or the organs and the corresponding Chi Nei Tsang points.
The differentiation was made between the upper brain in our head, and a lower brain in our abdomen. This lower brain can upset the upper brain. Emotional experiences are recorded in the second lower brain. The small intestine has many neurons. Liver is connected to anger. The gallbladder is linked to jealousy/envy. Anger produces more cholesterol that overloads the liver. Hatred is a block in the pericardium and can collect into the bone. Pancreas rooted in worry. Massage in the abdomen is beneficial for uncovering blockages that are binding the chemicals of the emotions to our bodies.
During the seminar we practiced the Chi Nei Tsang massage techniques on each other. The first day was abdominal massage focusing on techniques for clearing blockages in the intestinal tract, and massaging the rib cage. We started by pulling the feet away from the body, rocking the body, shaking it loose, and rocking the hips. The massage began at a heart point between the solar plexus and belly button, and finding a pulse on the left side. Rocking and spiraling that pulse point to get it loose. It will often have tangles, tension and knots. Sometimes the knot is as hard as a rock. Different rhythms of massage will release the pulses. A full detox program will release toxins from deep inside. The Tao Gardens program has a full detox program, and recommends 4 colonics before beginning Chi Nei Tsang massage therapy. There is another pulse in the upper thigh for the femoral artery, and it can be deep. Hold these pulses for thirty six counts. Close and open the pulse points. The entire purpose of doing this is to open the Wind Gate. The Wind Gate is called king of the navel because once it is open everything moves. So there are pulses in the belly button that radiate energy out to the left kidney, heart, right kidney, sexual center, intestine, stomach, spleen, liver/gallbladder, and intestine. These pulses are each massaged around the navel, working the area in between the solar plexus and navel, kneading it and rubbing it. In the diaphram, we massaged the ribcage with a one finger technique, going through the ribs one by one.
The blood that oozes beneath my veins was being visualized into beads which moved through my body like a handful of scattered rubies. I closed my eyes and my mind was going through the depths of flesh, within through to the organs, throat, eyes, inner thigh, and femoral arteries. Travelling through the dimensions of my body in my mind to heal and focus on any disease manifesting, and inside, the sphincter muscle at the top of my intestine dialated, looking remarkably similar to a waiting toothless mouth. The dark tube inside palpitated slowly. Being kneaded by my massage partner like a piece of dough, moving around the organ walls beneath muscle membranes, and sending radiant fingers probing down through the navel cavity. The navel cavity radiates out to all of the other organs. These were the organs which produced the various nutrient fluids circulating through the ducts, sustaining the layers, and glands of the body.
The second day we got into going deeper into abdominal massage by going through the naval and massaging the reproductive and area around the sexual organs which is called karsai nei tsang. First we started with a 5 finger technique of squeezing the hands together at the fingertips and sucking in the face, and putting the fingers in an okay mudra in front of the face and pulling energy in through the hair. The naval is a sensitive area and will remind us to our birth experience, which for most people is traumatic because they cut the umbilical cord so directly. In Asian forms of medicine, the mother bites off the umbilical cord, it’s burned off, or the mother and baby stay connected for up to 10 days and all of the stem cells go back into the bodies and the cord falls off. This is called lotus birthing in many circles. The navel goes into 360 degrees connecting to every organ and gland. We were using our thumbs to pull away the belly button in all directions. We were trained to relieve the tightness of this area, and use our elbow technique to relieve the tension there. We were using our hands and scooping the area of the reproductive organs to clear the blood vessels. We were following the major veins that flow through this area on the right and left of the groin area. We were scooping inside and outside of the hip. This can invigorate a frigid impotent reproductive system. Mantak Chia was telling us that blockages here feel like sand. The penis has abundant blood vessels and the erection comes from blue blood. Blocked in capillaries we see heavy metals in the vagina. Testicles get blocked. Blocked blood vessels cause a lot of trouble including loss of memory, impotence, back pain, prostate gland contraction. Apparently, Dao Gardens has a reproductive massage program that deeply works the reproductive organs in all of the orifices.
Afterwards, the practice Mantak Chia gives for letting energy go into the ground by putting the hands on the tree. The tree can take sick energy out. Thai like evergreen tree. Sitting like the Buddha next to the tree and the energy cycles between us and nature.
We also participated in a dark room meditation which at Dao Gardens is a 9 month program of complete darkness. There is a strong release of Melatonin, DMT, and feeling a separation of the soul and physical. In dark room meditation, the moment of death, the pineal gland releases DMT. He’s saying that during this time the inner child can be reborn, and there is a lot of sleep, and calming the mind and heart in the dark. There is a dark violet light that is projected on you, which is the highest frequency light. See past life with indigo child, through this reincarnation. Similar to an ayahuasca journey in South America, there are similar patterns and with dark room meditation there is the same effect and drawing and pictures look like a God in South America.
Mantak Chia’s lectures involved a practice session where he begins talking about how saliva activates our hormones, blood, and sexual energy. He emphasized that chewing food for a long time is beneficial to get the qi of the saliva. Beginning with a grounding exercise with the dragon tail down to bring energy up to the sacrum from the earth. Activate the sacrum and breathing. Earth energy comes up, and wraps around the sacrum and breathing into that activate the cranial pump by slapping at occipital bone. When the third eye opens meditate on the heart. We began holding the energy around our perineum and holding it like a ball, spinning around this perineum collection point. We then started to activate the kidney fire by gathering the jing energy down in the pernium, and the essence of the jing is stored there. Activating the heart and lung fires also and feeling the courage, righteous feelings, joy and happiness. This process involves steaming the organs, various sphincter muscles being expanded and gripped, producing tight seals directing the energy up the spine. The temperature of burning a “fire” and creating “steam” inside increased, burning like a magnesium flare, consuming muscles, organs, and bone alike. Following by balancing it with a water element, I felt my muscles slacken, an indrawn breath reveals the water element washing over my body quenching the thirst which gave vitality to every cell. Sensations flowed in my mind, light energy working through in perfect fusion. I arise and my entire body is tingling with a golden light suspended in the crystal room. I could feel my facial muscles shifting into a small smile, now my energy level was high.
This observation is like everything else I write about, rooted in a strictly personal preference- it may well be that millions of people enjoy meditating and massaging their organs and focusing their minds on relieving the physical blockages in their body. I find it to be a great practice to do on everyone. The knowledge that Mantak Chia is revealing about energetic physiology is real, and it works to heal.
Pema Osa Ling Summer Retreat, Santa Cruz, CA
by Eve Bohnett
The sun is setting slowly, and the redwood trees towering over the hillsides. I drive up to the pond at Pema Osa Ling for their spring retreat, which lasts for 4 days. The first hours there are mellow at the evening puja, low chanting, with no emphasis of tone, a gentle murmur. The voices are low and the pulse slow and steady, breathing becomes deep and relaxed. It’s a Santa Cruz secret that a Tibetan Buddhist ritual arts master, Lama Tarchin Rinpoche, has developed this center here for the last 20 years. Buddhism itself is a spiritual journey, where travel physically is not required, going deeper into a pure plane of awareness and observing and realizing Buddha nature in all things, there will be a time when you can arrive at the Pure land of the Heart.
Pema Osa Ling is not remote, but is a 45 minute drive from downtown. The property is quite steep, almost mountainous part of Santa Cruz, and sits on over 100 acres. The center is also an eco-friendly retreat center with indoor and outdoor meeting areas, overnight accommodations, a commercial kitchen, and a full size lap pool. In addition, there is a 20’ tall statue of Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava, and a Stupa peace park. Redwood trees shadow the multiple buildings and dirt roads throughout the property lead to divine places, allowing us to see the property as a celestial palace.
How I arrived as such a magnificent place with such qualified teachers is a blessing I hold dearly. Everything arises as an expression of indwelling nature. When we see phenomenon other than manifest expression of our own being, it is delusion as opposed to liberation. These places exist so we can explore ourselves and our relationship with the deities, teachers, and community with deep inner work.
What is the nature of the wisdom deity?
Lama Tarchin is the current tenth lineage holder of the largest Tibetan yogi sect, the Repkong Ngak-mang, known as the “One thousand Phurba holders” because of the use of the ritual dagger, or phurban for tantric rituals. Padmasambhava, a sage guru, established the ngakpa tradition in the 8th century to bring cultural and spiritual education to the people. These communities of Repkong Tibet are characterized by very large-scale collective rituals, some of them annual, and others only one time events, which focus on the cult of the local village and mountain gods. The area is in the northern part of Tibet, and show many similarities to Chinese forms of religion. They go deep into channeling and experiencing deities, carrying palanquins of representations of Gods, with collective dance performances. Lama Tarchin was trained personally by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche in torma making, and served as the main shrine attendant in the protector temple at his residence for seven years, where he was responsible for making the tormas. He was also trained in song, mandala design, dance, and other sacred arts.
Lama Tarchin is returning from a trip to Bhutan, where they held a ceremony for the recent passing of Trinley Norbu Rinpoche, who passed away Dec. 27th, 2011. Trinley Norbu Rinpoche loved meditation, so we carry on the impact of meditation; Find confidence in meditation. We need to know the one thing that brings us liberation in every circumstance, receive direct instruction, meditate, and put into practice. Trinley Norbu Rinpoche is the incarnation of one of the seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa, Longchenpa, and was one of the most revered masters of the Nyingma lineage. This lineage is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and dates back to the 8th century when Buddhist texts were translated from Sanksrit to Tibetan.
Essentially the spring retreat is focusing on the teachings from lineage of Dudjom Rinpoche, who is a spiritual master. Guru yoga allows the mind to become drunk of yearning devotion, imagining our guru melts into light and dissolves into us, no longer distinguish anything different. Relax within our natural state of primordially pure existence.
The meditation retreat begins with a morning puja, afterwards, I help in the kitchen where I get to know a few of the regular paid cooks on the property. In the afternoon, a crew helps with the food preparations. I’m working with the head chef, who is a gourmet cook during the multiple weddings, retreats, and conferences held at the center. He is organizing several food preparations, and I’m there to assist him. He listens to rock music while working, and he chants Tibetan prayers in the evening. There are many levels that the staff engages in and is involved in sacred practices if they choose to be. The program at night usually consists of chanting mantras in Tibetan.
Many of the full time staff there is constantly engaged in sacred practices. One member of the cooking crew is a Torma painter. Tormas are traditionally butter sculptures which are sacred geometry, blending harmony from shape and form into a sculpture used for ritual purposes on the main altar, and on altars in peoples homes.
The teachings with Lama Tarchin Rinpoche are several hours long in which he guides everyone through guided meditations and the Songs of Realization by Dudjom Lingpa. Our inner nature partakes in the inner nature of all things. We recognize our minds as naked awareness and recognize indwelling nature, maintaining attachment to magical experience of phenomenon. Everyone who meditates has this fallback. Thoughts arise, and so we let go into our indwelling nature. Look into the empty and clear awareness that’s always present. Clear awareness is the cause of omniscient wisdom. These meditations involve coming to these places internally and traveling through different layers of this life into a spiritual realm. The temple building engages all of our visual senses on visions of deities, spiritual beings, Gurus, that can reflect to us these spiritual realms.
On Friday night there is a Khandro Tik Tuk ceremony that is performed. The cymbals are played, and they are joined by the horns and drum. The sheer noise of the ceremony is awakening and kind of shocking. The monks who lead the procession also play horns and other instruments. The practitioners chant the Tibetan prayers of the ceremony, and usually chant at a Tibetan pace with thunderbolt speed. On the last line of each verse, the cymbals crash and joined by the horns and drums. The dance continued for a while with the cymbals and drums keeping the beat. The practices of radical awakening involve an inner purification, burning away of fear and insecurity. We're living in a time when practices like these are engaging the deepest levels of our senses to envelop our consciousness with pure light energy. The tsok is distrubted, ritually blessed foods are given out, wine is served. We're given these blessings and partaking in them to engage our senses spiritually and receive blessings which take root at the deepest part of our minds. Reminders and reflections that we are capable of ascension and tapping into other dimensions. The chanting in Tibetan induces a trance like state where all of the breathe energy is dedicated to recitation and meditation on energy transmission. These mantras induce a fierce discipline of mind to be sharpened with the tools to cut through obstacles and entanglements, allowing dissolution of internal patterns to invoke inner harmony and tranquility with the environment.
Several of the younger generation grew up with the practices here. The 18-22 year olds know many of the traditional Tibetan dances that they do every year. Elise, one of the young ladies, goes into detail with me about the dances, who teaches them and when. There are stories floating around about the summer retreat in which people are learning the dances, and the retreat culminates with the Black Hat Dance, a ritual dance performance. The dance demonstrates the innate sublime nature of the enlightened mind, and the performance of the ritual activity of pacifying evil, negative energetic hinderances. The Black Hat Vajrayana practitioner is meditative, slow and peaceful. The dance was originally performed in 9th century Tibet, in response to Lang Darma who was destructive to monasteries and stupas and forced hundreds of monks and nuns to disrobe. A great practitioner Lhalung Pal Dorji, was determined to subdue the King’s actions, and went to Lhasa wearing a black hat and long black cloak with a bow and arrow hidden underneath. He danced for the king. Afterwards, he shot the King in his heart, killing him and bringing Peace and Harmony to Tibet. So these practices continue today to generate spiritual experience, and young students in their early teens also perform these dances at Pema Osa Ling.
Pema Osa Ling allows oneself an inner journey work to invite cosmic principles to transmute the physical nature into a divine celestial palace. We're here to go deep together into pure being with the truth that we are all powerful to relieve ourselves of sufferings of limitations. Purifying our senses that say "I'm separate from the spiritual realm" and lifting that veil of illusion wherever it may be presenting itself in our lives. Deep down in us, we know who we are. How can we not be ourselves? Limited somehow, we don't believe that. All the core, chronic levels of fear and illusion still exist. Deep feelings of feeling flawed, wrong, and acknowledging we have limiting beliefs. How is it that we're not aware of ourselves and our habits that keep us in the fear of life, fear of death, and attachment to that that keeps us going through those cycles? Even the most subtle clinging to life we must let go of during a retreat. Tibetan spiritual practices involve letting go of all barriers that suppress who we really are and allow us to be one with the spiritual life. The present moment is an expression of who we are. Everything is a mirror of where exactly we need to be, which may or may not include loving ourselves and engaging the truth of what is omnipresent indwelling nature which is inherently clear light luminosity. Coming to Pema Osa Ling allows skillful means for sublime insight, grasping what is positive and generating spiritual experience and realization. It is a spiritual path into the light of empty and clear awareness that can lead us to omniscient wisdom.
Here are some pictures of Pema Osa Ling (Although not taken during the retreat)
Reggae on the Bay, San Diego, CA
by Eve Bohnett
Reggae on the Bay is a Bob Marley tribute festival held annually for the past 31 years in San Diego. The festival is run by the local World Beat Center, and hostess Makeda Makossa. The festival line up is incredible every year bringing major names together. The Itals, Junior Reid, Alborosie, Don Carlos, Yellowman, Sister Carol, Big Mountain, Wailing Souls, Johnny Osbourne, and many others blessed up the stage.
I went to high school in San Diego, and I would go to the World Beat Center for West African drumming classes, generally to hang out and play the drums. After having not been back for exactly 10 years, I decide to surprise myself with a volunteer visit back to this very special African and Indigenous cultural center. It looks the exact same as it was when I left. The building is an oval building with murals covering the outside, and once I get inside I notice there are several newer murals. It sits in Balboa park, which is a large park that is full of museums. The Bob Marley Day festival is partly volunteer run, and when I arrive on Friday morning to volunteer for the weekend I am greeted by a group of diverse and attractive young adults willing to give their time and energy to make the festival happen.
The festival runs on Saturday and Sunday. Friday is spent preparing. People are running back and forth between the center and the Broadway Pier, which is a Gold Standard Leed certified building on the pier in downtown San Diego and the location where the festival is held. I’m eventually asked to work in the kitchen at the World Beat, where they will be preparing all of the food for the World Beat center kitchen booth. Makeda's in the kitchen all day hanging out. She's so busy but we all get to spend time chatting with her. One word that describes Makeda is energy. She brings fire to the scene wherever she's at. The other people in the kitchen are Christina, who's Sudanese and wants to open a clinic in Sudan when she graduates from college, Jorge who's a long time volunteer, is DJ Mafondo, and researches and teaches college Latin American Studies, Oscar who shares about his Native American shamanic work, and many others. I just thought to name a few people so you can get an idea of the diversity.
The primary purpose of the World Beat Center is to celebrate traditions, and personalities of many of the world’s culture groups. The leader behind this center is Makeda Dread. One thing that's so very important to Makeda is that she unites people of color together, and she's brilliant at it. She's nearly 70 years old, a raw foodist, and has been for decades one of the hardest working people in Southern California in the cultural and ethnic arts scene. She brings forward live streaming radio and television programs. She educates young students about African hertiage and music. West African musical traditions are rich and varied in and of themselves and have a profound impact on the course of musical developments worldwide over the past several centuries. This was the region of the continent from which most Africans were brought to the Americas. Through this origin we can trace origins of blues, jazz, soul, rap, hip-hop, salsa, Cuban son, Puerto Rican bomba, Trinidadian steel band, Jamacian reggae, Brazilian samba, and many more genres and subrenres too numerous to mention.
After a full day in the kitchen the crew has gotten the chance to bond a little bit, and they go until late into the night. The next morning I arrive around 10am, and begin helping to load things into the truck to go to the festival. We drive downtown to the pier and unload everything. What seems like a small amount of stuff becomes truckloads and truckloads of food and equipment. We stay at the pier and carry everything through the building up the stairs and to the farthest corner of the room. It turns out to be a very labor intensive kitchen setup. It would not have been my choice of location. No way. We work loading and unloading tons of heavy equipment and supplies for 5 or 6 hours. I'm working with Oscar, who's this totally fit Native American guy, and a few other guys arrive to help out.The festival starts around 4pm. We're doing heavy loading the entire time up until the festival starts. Then afterwards, I take a moment to eat a Jamacian pattie, and savor the flavor. The curry and rice that Makeda makes is incredible. The kitchen becomes busy, and we begin to get a lot of customers. We're all shuffled around trying to keep it together. Some of the volunteers come and go. That's how it went for the entire two day festival. I went out and watched a lot of the music.
I got to see most of the headlining acts and a few others. So great to see the legends of Reggae come together. There was something for everybody. Young and old, to appreciate the roots and culture of Reggae. I was volunteering most of the time serving the people who were at the festival were all decked out in their rasta clothes and gear. It's an amazing scene to connect with the reggae community of San Diego who come from all walks of life. We all come together to praise Rastafari, and unite to hear the positive vibrations. Reggae is a really positive spiritual music, and this festival upholds those strong vibes by having legendary artists bring forward their fire. Everybody was blazing herb, and my friends from 10 years ago show up and bliss me out with some ganja. We're all irie dancing to the music and after 10 years of being away I remembered the sweet San Diego vibe. There's a lot of good memories I have from Reggae by the Bay 10 years ago, and World Beat.
Volunteering is a labor of love for World Beat Center. For me, the experience is extremely touching. The roots music that is created at the center has had a lasting impression on me. 10 years later I can see that the vibe here is strong and young, and many of the younger generation are coming together here. I'll be back next year and future years when I can to participate as a volunteer.