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March 19, 2006
Grunion Run and Ticklebacks
Last night I went with my roommate to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium to watch the Grunion Run. Grunion are a small fish that come onto the beach several days after the highest tide to lay their eggs. The event is widely anticipated by biology geeks throughout the Southern California and upper Baja regions. My roommate had to go for her biology class, so I thought it would be interesting to go along. Needless to say, we didn't end up staying long enough to see the fish actually make their trek up onto the sandy shore; it was late and we were getting cold. But we did get to watch a video on the strange bi-monthly occurance, as well as hatch some of our own tiny little Grunion eggs in a baby food jar. It was all very interesting and extrememely nerdy.
While we were waiting for the Grunion around eleven o'clock, sitting on the beach, the family in front of us starting doing something that reminded me how important traditions are and that we have more in common with each other than we might think. It sounds silly, but they were writing messages to each other on their backs with their finger, one letter at a time. This is something we did in our family before bedtime when we were little kids. I had forgotten all about it, so it put a smile on my face (especially since the family I was watching had primarily teen boys-- not a type I would expect to so publicly participate in an what I see as a motherly, tender and personal activity). It was just a strange moment; the small joy I felt in recognizing a forgotten family past time combined with the shivery anticipation of being able to watch thousands of fish mate on the beach. How very odd.
Posted by libbystokes at March 19, 2006 03:03 PM