The Epic Kitchen String Game: Suki vs. Rio

My very first pet was a gray tabby cat that I found hiding underneath a car in the rain when I was about 5 years old. I took her home and named her "Meow". Why you ask? Because I wanted her to be able to say her own name. The logic made sense at the time, but now that I think of it, I sound like a nutbar. In any case, Meow was the best cat. We got along so well that I naturally assumed all cats were gracious, wonderful beings who were tolerant and kind to everyone. It took many failed pet cats over the years to gradually change my mind. I eventually came to the conclusion that cats are independent, selfish beings who only want what they want when they want it and will sometimes allow you to pet them. I remember saying to Evaristo, who by the way loves cats and is a huge cat person, "You know, we should totally get a cat just so that we could have a live-in source of entertainment".

When Kuma came to stay, my expectations were pretty low. I really didn't think that I could care for a cat as much as I could care for dog. I eventually decided that I shouldn't have any expectations of Kuma and that I should just enjoy her for what she is. As I did, I started to notice that cats communicate entirely differently then dogs—duh. Well, obviously, but notice that I didn't say cats communicate less than dogs; I just said differently. Once I started from scratch with Kuma, I couldn't believe how much she was communicating. Gestures or movements that wouldn't have caught my attention before were now speaking volumes.

Her kittens have taught me so much more. They are the sweetest things in the world and the cats that I always wanted. Once you figure out how a cat communicates, things gets really easy. You can even play games. Heck, you can even match a cat to a dog in a game and see who wins (put money on the dog, unless you feel the cat is really on his or her game). Evaristo and I did just that the other night when we matched Suki up to Rio in the Epic Kitchen String Game.

So, a little background on the Epic Kitchen String Game. To play you will require a long piece of sturdy string. If your boyfriend is obsessed with string and you often find him collecting random pieces of string which he then plays "knots" with for hours on end, then getting a hold of a sturdy piece of string should be pretty straightforward. You'll need to tie the string to a fixture on the ceiling so that it hangs down and is at nose level with your competitors. Tie a Turk's Head knot (re: boyfriend) on the end of the string. After your competitors have become intrigued by the string/knot combo, set them up and let them lose! First one to catch the knot gets a point. Play to 3. Go!

The Epic Kitchen String Game from Aguacate47 on Vimeo.

How We Lost the War

There are a lot of things that I really like about our house, but the one thing I can't stand is the carpet. It's old and there are stains on it that have been there since before we moved in. It's difficult to keep clean and it has always looked a bit dingy. When I first saw it, I immediately wanted to rip it up, but the floor beneath needs A LOT of work to just make it livable. In any case, the entire house is carpeted, except for the kitchen, which is were the animals have their beds. The kitchen has its own door that leads to the yard and a window that is always left open. Rio quickly learned how to open the kitchen door and happily goes in and out as he pleases. The cats prefer to use the window.

Since moving to our little blue house in 2007, Evaristo and I have had the rule that our animals can't step on the carpet. The reasons for this rule are important and I respect them. So, as much as I would have liked the animals to hang out with us in the living room, they were resigned to hang out in the kitchen, close to us but not near enough to sit on your lap or snuggle up to your feet. But don't think they were deprived of attention. Oh no. Far from it.

Getting the animals to follow the ONE RULE, was rather simple at first as we only had Rio. After adopting Kuma, it was a bit more challenging but we made it work surprisingly well. After the kittens were born, we realized that we are most certainly outnumbered and we started having some difficulties enforcing the no carpet rule. However, we managed well up until about two weeks ago when we started waking up to this:

How in the world can you enforce a rule when you have Suki waking you up in the morning purring like a tractor because she wants to snuggle and be petted? You can't. It's impossible. And if Suki can be there, why not Momo? He's always a few steps behind everyone anyway (he's a bit on the slow side). Sure enough, Momo would show up not much later and find a nice little spot in the blankets to curl up in. And if the rugrats were there, then why not Kuma, who quickly took advantage of our lowered defenses to claim her favorite spot in our closet. And if all the cats were there, it would be down right unjust to exclude Rio, the ONLY one who has ever consistently followed every rule without fail. So we quickly realized that what had once been our room, was now the place to be in the mornings: three cats, one dog and the two of us quietly dozing in our bed as the sun came up. The mornings quickly turned into afternoons, which quickly turned into ALL THE TIME. Last night we officially raised the white flag and gave in. The fuzzy ones have taken over. Rio is currently asleep on my feet as I write this, Kuma is next to me on a chair, Suki is asleep on my lap and Momo has decided that right next to Rio is where he would like to be. Well done, quadrupeds, you have won.

Playitas - El Mosquito

Last Saturday, Evaristo and I and a good friend of mine from school participated in a swim hosted by a local conservation group called ProPlayitas. This particular group was formed to help promote the conscientious and recreational use of Ensenada's beaches while at the same time working to protect them from development and anthropogenic damage.

Playitas has always been a special place for me. It's where I first got to know Evaristo and where I have passed countless hours in the summer swimming and snorkeling. There have always been rumblings in the background about possible development projects that would essentially convert Playitas into a marina, but thankfully, these projects have never been realized. I know that the loss of Playitas would not only be a huge blow to myself but to countless other Ensenadenses who use Playitas a natural swimming pool. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that Playitas is the only "pool" in Ensenada that is 100% accessible to anyone who would like to use it.

On the day of the swim, Evaristo and I got up early and headed to our home away from home. We shared some coffee in the car and mentally prepared ourselves for how cold the water would be. As we had just finished sampling the week before, we had a good idea of what to expect. Cold, cold water and lots of it. We were not disappointed.

Playitas was packed with swimmers. It was actually pretty cool to see so many people getting ready to swim, trembling in the their swim caps, anxiously waiting for the go ahead to start. There was a lot of screaming as people waded into the frigid water, myself included, but as soon as the whistle blew everyone took off without even noticing the temperature, which was a balmy 10 degrees Celsius. I got separated from my group and ended up swimming near a large woman wearing a red wetsuit, who I would later find out was actually a large man, much to my surprise. In any case, Big Red and I took off at a good pace and fell into a nice rhythm. I finished in about 50 minutes and enjoyed the adrenaline rush for the rest of the day.

I finally understood what runners mean when they say they could run forever or that running clears their minds or that running is relaxing because I felt all those things when I swam. The 2.5 km swim was the longest swim that I have ever done in the ocean and I have to say that I am hooked. I can't wait for the next opportunity to strike out over large distances across the sea. I would like to start training as well so that the next time an event like this comes up I won't be too out of shape to participate.

For example, it's possible that next year there might be a swim from the Islands of Todos Santos to El Mosquito. I wish I could sign up right now. How cool would that be?

Kayaks and Kelp

My lab group rocks. I love the research that we do and so you can imagine how excited I was to be able to participate in a week long interdisciplinary and international field campaign that linked physical and biological oceanography. For me that meant diving at my favorite local dive spot to collect macroalgae, then spending a week in a kayak, paddling kilometers each day to pull up sample lines and free-diving off the kayak to change out my collectors offshore. We started at 5:30 in the morning and ended, well, late. I met some fantastic people from Scripps Institute of Oceanography, made some new friends from CICESE and got to know one redheaded surferdude that kept me laughing and in great spirits, even when our kayak almost sank in a freak tsunami. As I watched the doomed kayak fill with water, I tried to not laugh as all I heard was "We're goin' down! AHHHH! It's the Perfect Storm, Dude! We are all gonna die! AHHHHAHAHAHAHA". During the long swim to shore, as we dragged the half-sunk kayak behind us laughing all the way, I couldn't help but think that this was something I would never forget. Trust me, you can't make this stuff up.

Capt. Jack Cuervo

Due to a series of experiments that my lab group carried out this summer, I spent a good chunk of my time riding around in pangas, diving to either install equipment or to pull it up. I had a blast. I played with all manner of sea creatures and explored some new dive spots. I dove deeper than I ever had before, which was interesting. Let's just say that I don't think recreational deep diving is in my future, unless there is something more to see than sand, random rocks and spots where gear should be but isn't.

In any case, part of the fun of working on pangas is working with the pangueros. These guys are usually fishermen who take people around in pangas when they aren't fishing. I have had the best experiences getting to know the pangueros that I have worked with over the last few years, but one in particular stands out from the crowd.

I call him Capt. Jack Cuervo due to the striking resemblance he bears, both in appearance and manner, to a certain other well-known pirate with dreadlocks, dangly earings and penchant for rum. Capt. Jack Cuervo, or Cuervo as he is known, can maneuver a panga with ease through the smallest and tightest maze imaginable. Oh, and did I mention that he can do it with his foot? Ya. That's right. The man drives with his foot. Why? Because he's just that freaking cool.

Capt. Jack Cuervo from Aguacate47 on Vimeo.