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Scrawny Squirrels

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Martine Trying to Feed a Squirrel

Sunday was a typical hot-and-cold day with a heavy marine layer and forecasts of rain in the eastern mountains and deserts. In other words, it was Mexican Monsoon season. Rather than break into a sweat in our apartment, I proposed we spend some hours at Chace Park in the Marina, maybe picking up a picnic lunch at the supermarket on the way.

I grabbed a book (George Mackay Brown’s Rockpools and Daffodils) and headed out with Martine to the Marina. She picked up a ready-made chicken sandwich at Ralph’s and saved bits of the crust to feed to the local squirrels and crows.

The park has a large number of scrawny squirrels who, I think, feed mostly on the leavings of picnickers. It was funny to see her approach the squirrels and try to convince them that they should take advantage of the crust she was offering them. Occasionally they did; but then, they decided to give it a pass. Martine turned away disgusted. But it was not in vain: The crows landed and grabbed the crumbs refused by the squirrels.

There was a pleasant breeze at Chace Park, and I enjoyed taking a walk that took in the statue of the helmsman at the tip of the peninsula in which the park is situated.

Statue of the Helmsman at Chace Park

The sun didn’t come out, but in sunny California that is no tragedy. We got fed, the crows and squirrels got fed, and I read a goodly chunk of George Mackay Brown, which is always a good thing.

Sea Breeze

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Whenever it gets too beastly hot, I frequently head to Burton W. Chace Park in Marina del Rey. On most days—the sole exception being times when there is a Santa Ana wind, bringing hot desert air from the Mohave Desert—it is always more comfortable there. Not only is the temperature at least five degrees cooler, but if one finds a spot to sit within a couple hundred feet of the shore, there is always a cooling sea breeze.

Today, I tested this as I walked inland to my parked car. By the time I was 300-500 feet from the shore, the breeze started breaking up. By the time I reached my car, it was nonexistent. Yet while I sat reading in the shade in Picnic Shelter A (the one closest to the shore), the cooling breeze was steady.

I don’t understand why this is so. The beaches to the north and south of the Marina aren’t all that comfortable, perhaps because of the heat radiated by the sun beating on the sand.

The park was full of small squirrels who were constantly chasing one another. I guess there was too much competition for the scarce food resources. At any given time, I could see as many as ten squirrels.