In all the wrong places....
Aug. 11th, 2003 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senoritafishThis article in the Monitor reminded me of a few years ago when I had to make a trip out to the the Salton Sea. This is basically a lake that was formed in the desert by an engineering mistake - back in the early twentieth century, a dike on the Colorado River broke, and for a year, it emptied into a dry lake bed in the southern California desert instead of the Gulf of California in Mexico. Because it has no outlet but evaporation, it's more saline than the ocean, and people introduced marine fish there. There was actually a commercial fishery for corbina there, a fish that's reserved purely for sport fishing on the coast.
There was an extremely virulent outbreak of avian botulism out there, and wildlife authorities were determined to get it under control before the fall migration took place. Despite being one of the most polluted bodies of water in California because of all the agricultural runoff from the Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea is a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway for many migratory birds. Resident birds were dying right and left, and every available staff member took turns going out there in 115° heat to collect dead birds and rescue others, especially brown pelicans, which are an endangered species. It was mucky, dirty, smelly, and sad work and exhausting because of the heat, so they had us start at 4:30 a.m. and quit at 1 pm. We stayed at a motel in Calipatria, whose claim to fame is that the whole town is below sea level, and it has the world's tallest flagpole; 184 feet - the flag flies at sea level.
Now, this motel was very nice and brand spankin' new, but I didn't pay much attention for the first day or two because I was so tired. Then I began to wonder why there was such a nice motel in town where there weren't even any decent restaurants - you had to drive 10 miles down the road to Brawley to find a fast food place. My second evening there, I emerged after an afternoon nap when the heat had died down a little to check out the pool. After a swim I got in the spa with about three other women. One had a couple of kids with her, and the other two were single, one older and one younger. I came in the middle of their conversation so I didn't quite know what they were talking about - the older lady was saying, "Yes, I've been here once before, but it didn't work out, but this is my friend's first time."
The mother replied with, "Yes, I come out once a month or so, and you can bring food, and they have trailers were you can stay with your whole family."
I gradually came to realize they were talking about visiting the inmates at the nearby Calipatria State Prison. The mom was visiting her husband, which is understandable, but the other two women were visiting men they had never met before, they had only exchanged letters with them. They obviously were expecting to start something serious with the men they were soon to meet. I think they expected me to join in with who I was visiting, but I was just driving around an old truck and picking up piles of dead birds.
I never even blind dated. I knew John for a good three years before we ever started seeing each other. I realize I'm a slow starter, so I have trouble understanding what would make someone deliberately seek out a person who is doing time for a relationship. The article says there are actually services dedicated to matching people up with inmates. I guess you'd already know the bad side of someone and it comes as no surprise.
Anyway, the Salton Sea is a fascinating place. Thirty miles long from end to end, with small communities here and there. There were big plans for development at one time that never panned out. One place, called Slab City, is home to snowbirds during the winter; people who come and park their RVs and trailers there, but it's deserted in the heat of summer. On the other shore, Salton City, has all its roads and streetlights laid out, with Vegas-like names like Sunset, Riviera, Monaco. But there's only one house every two or three blocks. The developers just never realized how deserted it really is, and how expensive it would be to get water there. A ghost town of a city that was never really there in the first place.
But the birds love it, and birders from all over the county visit to expand their life lists. There's a large population of burrowing owls at the south end that are almost tame. Fishermen go there to catch fish that they can't eat, and bake in the sun by a lake that you can't swim in. There is a harsh desert beauty to the place, but really not my idea of the perfect vacation, at least in the summertime. I'd like to go back and explore sometime without the emergency.
There was an extremely virulent outbreak of avian botulism out there, and wildlife authorities were determined to get it under control before the fall migration took place. Despite being one of the most polluted bodies of water in California because of all the agricultural runoff from the Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea is a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway for many migratory birds. Resident birds were dying right and left, and every available staff member took turns going out there in 115° heat to collect dead birds and rescue others, especially brown pelicans, which are an endangered species. It was mucky, dirty, smelly, and sad work and exhausting because of the heat, so they had us start at 4:30 a.m. and quit at 1 pm. We stayed at a motel in Calipatria, whose claim to fame is that the whole town is below sea level, and it has the world's tallest flagpole; 184 feet - the flag flies at sea level.
Now, this motel was very nice and brand spankin' new, but I didn't pay much attention for the first day or two because I was so tired. Then I began to wonder why there was such a nice motel in town where there weren't even any decent restaurants - you had to drive 10 miles down the road to Brawley to find a fast food place. My second evening there, I emerged after an afternoon nap when the heat had died down a little to check out the pool. After a swim I got in the spa with about three other women. One had a couple of kids with her, and the other two were single, one older and one younger. I came in the middle of their conversation so I didn't quite know what they were talking about - the older lady was saying, "Yes, I've been here once before, but it didn't work out, but this is my friend's first time."
The mother replied with, "Yes, I come out once a month or so, and you can bring food, and they have trailers were you can stay with your whole family."
I gradually came to realize they were talking about visiting the inmates at the nearby Calipatria State Prison. The mom was visiting her husband, which is understandable, but the other two women were visiting men they had never met before, they had only exchanged letters with them. They obviously were expecting to start something serious with the men they were soon to meet. I think they expected me to join in with who I was visiting, but I was just driving around an old truck and picking up piles of dead birds.
I never even blind dated. I knew John for a good three years before we ever started seeing each other. I realize I'm a slow starter, so I have trouble understanding what would make someone deliberately seek out a person who is doing time for a relationship. The article says there are actually services dedicated to matching people up with inmates. I guess you'd already know the bad side of someone and it comes as no surprise.
Anyway, the Salton Sea is a fascinating place. Thirty miles long from end to end, with small communities here and there. There were big plans for development at one time that never panned out. One place, called Slab City, is home to snowbirds during the winter; people who come and park their RVs and trailers there, but it's deserted in the heat of summer. On the other shore, Salton City, has all its roads and streetlights laid out, with Vegas-like names like Sunset, Riviera, Monaco. But there's only one house every two or three blocks. The developers just never realized how deserted it really is, and how expensive it would be to get water there. A ghost town of a city that was never really there in the first place.
But the birds love it, and birders from all over the county visit to expand their life lists. There's a large population of burrowing owls at the south end that are almost tame. Fishermen go there to catch fish that they can't eat, and bake in the sun by a lake that you can't swim in. There is a harsh desert beauty to the place, but really not my idea of the perfect vacation, at least in the summertime. I'd like to go back and explore sometime without the emergency.
