While kayaking  with our cousin, I managed to tip over my kayak.  Surprisingly, it was not the “panic” event I thought it would be.  The water was summer warm and our octogenarian cousin paddled back and rescued me.  Drowning was averted by standing up.  His gentle encouragement and advice  helped this landlubber.  We saw a lot of birds, including wild parrots. And we saw some homeless people that live along the river.  It was a fun morning.

Oil is big industry here in Bakersfield, California.  They have been pumping oil for almost 120 years and prior to environmental laws about 50 years ago, waste water from oil pumping was discharged into the Kern River.  Today that water is cleaned and put back into the aquifer.  The oil pump pictured is representative of the hundreds that dot the landscape.

We are enjoying some R&R with family and hope to dig for shark tooth fossils later in the week.  Our next show is the craft fair portion of the Mountain Festival in Tehachipi.  This event brings 20 to 30 thousand people to that small mountain town.  Hope to see you there.