That's My Story

ANOTHER TAKE ON FALL IN BAJA

Originally published in Western Outdoor News week of Sept. 12, 2007

Last week I wrote of my enthusiasm for this time of the year in the Baja. It’s a great time to be down here for innumerable reasons, not the least of which is the fishing.

I guess the fish gods and Mother Nature heard me and decided to tag-team and give me a bit of a “wedgie.” Just a little harmless fun to remind me that I had neglected to mention another aspect of being in Baja in the fall.

Three days after writing the last column, we were humming right along. Fishing was rocking Weather was grand. Lots of happy clients. Life was good. We could do no wrong. Notice I used the past tense.

And just like that, it changed again!

I find myself looking up at the sky like everyone else. We’re all glued to our computer screens and debating whether CNN weather website is better than the NOAA site or Weatherunderground.com. Instead of answering e-mails and phone calls asking what about the fishing and diving, I’m hearing, “Should we cancel our trip?”

Like some some boogeyman, everone wants to know whether “IT” is coming?

All because of Henriette.

One day we’re basking in sunshine and the next we’re bailing water; filling sandbags; tying down boats; looking for flashlight batteries; losing power and dodging 20 pound coconuts falling from trees!

Henriette was our first big chubasco (hurricane) of the season. I think it’s number 6 for me not to count numerous strong tropical storms. I’ve never been in anything stronger than a category 2 blow, nor do I want to, but in all seriousness, these things are darned fascinating.

I’m not making light of the seriousness of calamitous weather or what something like a Katrina-sized storm can do to life, limb and property. People get hurt and killed by these things. Lives are altered.

But, taken in a vacuum (no pun intended), there’s nothing like observing nature on the loose. It’s even better being in the center of it! Step inside the Weather Channel! The skies darken and liquefy as clouds approach with amazing speed and like an ominous blanket of grey it descends on you.

Winds take on a life of their own. Osterizing the ocean into a frenzy, they swirl and cavort and whip in sheets as thick as the rain that starts to fall driving water before it with incredible force.

Hurricane winds don’t howl. They scream like runaway trains looking for things to hit and wrap around. A tree here. Roof shingles there. There go the lawn chairs. Has anyone seen the dog?

The rain stings and goes horizontal. The wind eventually torques up like the sound of a jet engine. And if you can, stand outside in the center of the maelstrom. Raise your arms and brace against the onrushing force of elements. To scream as loud as you can is to feel something deep and primal and probably as therapueutic as 10 expensive sessions on the doctor’s couch. The sheer joy of yelling into the winds of the gods…soaked to the skin and laughing.

Imagine riding in the last car on the rollercoaster and standing up with your hands raised as it takes that first long long long long drop. It is that kind of scream. It’s visceral. It’s an emotion that we keep tucked up inside as we go through our civilized existence Screaming for fun is not allowed. Good boys and girls don’t yell.

But, stand in a hurricane and flip convention the bird and scream for awhile and watch the world literally blow by as nature reminds us that it still has the ultimate ability to kick us in our butts. Man has learned to control his environment to some degree, but he has never plugged a volcano. Never put a cork on a hurricane. Never stopped rain or snow from falling. Never turned off a heatwave.

The Baja is a great place to be in the fall and yes, storms can happen. The late summer and fall are storm season in Baja. Will it happen on YOUR vacation? It could. But not likely. It’s like asking what are the chances I’ll hit a blizzard in New York in December. It could happen, but don’t cancel your flights because of it.

I know we all like sun and all the activities that go with it. But storms are also part of it at times. It reminds of what that the wild things are not far away. And, ultimately, isn’t that what we like about Baja?

It’s not antiseptic. It’s not completely predictable. Baja is still the frontier where we can wander the deserts; explore the oceans; you cannot always get hot water and yes…occasionally you get a gully-washer of a storm. If you want predictable and safely from the wild without leaving your comfortable chair, go to Vegas and turn on the climate control.

I still like my Baja on the wilder side.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.