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Health & Fitness

The Mysterious Lagoon

While we’re all wondering what some nutcase in Congress will come up with next, the real mysteries are right under our noses. For more than 30 years, I’ve lived within walking distance of a mysterious, fascinating, historically significant, unbelievably important, natural resource – and I hardly noticed.

It seemed so innocuous, so ordinary, until my daughter-in-law invited me to take a closer look. She is obviously much brighter than I, and she’s studied nature, while I paid too much attention to politics and making money.

Well, I’ve taken a closer look, and I am amazed by the things I have seen and learned at San Elijo Lagoon. The things I didn’t know…

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Plants – All I knew was most of them are green. You can cook and eat a Prickly Pear cactus (the most dangerous looking plant I’ve ever seen). Ask Alex, one of the Park Rangers at the Lagoon – he might invite you to dinner. 

Animals – Mule deer actually live in San Elijo Lagoon – along with a few thousand other vertebrates! (I’ve never used that word before.)

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Birds – You can tell their occupations by their beaks, and some, by their feet! Egrets are my favorite models – they just stand and wait for you to take their picture!

Insects and spiders – You wouldn’t believe what I learned about Ladybugs! (Those ladies change more than just their minds.)

American Indians – Kumeyaay artifacts are all over the lagoon! (There was a Kumeyaay burial ground in back of my house in Olivenhain.)

Geology – If you live in a house overlooking Cardiff Reef (as I do, now), ask a docent at the Conservancy where your house might have been a thousand years ago, and where it might be a thousand years from now – or, after the next big storm!

If you are a photographer – professional or not – and you have not taken a walking tour of San Elijo Lagoon, your camera is actually crying right now.

The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy – “Preserving, protecting and enhancing the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve and watershed” – is one of the most enlightening, educational and entertaining places – and group of knowledgeable, interesting people – I have been introduced to in years. And there is so much more to learn and enjoy. I’ll be at it for quite a while!

Costs nothing, the guided tours are fantastic (you’ll love the stories), open every day (bring your camera), and if we meet on the trail, I promise not to discuss politics.

For information or to schedule a tour, call Tara Fuad, Educational Director at 760.436.3944.


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