Dancing With Nature

Sunrise 2, Baja Landscapes, artist & copyright Jill Mollenhauer

‘What is it about Baja that makes you want to go back?’ The question was posed to me last night at a lovely dinner party hosted by dear friends. Immediately I knew the answer, for just that day I had become aware of what is missing here.

Don’t get me wrong, I am eternally grateful for this stopping point, a place to heal from all that has been ongoing in our lives as of late. My partner’s cancer treatment has required us to be here and this rental house has been a God-send for its proximity to not only the doctors but also our storage garage. And because it is on the same block as the house we own and currently rent to someone else, our core support group and neighbors are with us. What a blessing! Nothing could make it easier than to just walk the 3 blocks to Trader Joes or Ralphs, Starbucks or even the hardware store. Such ease! This neighborhood hosts more restaurants than one could ever choose from in a lifetime along with other numerous outlets for enjoyment. I guess my friend simply could not fathom why I want to return to our beach house in Baja where we make our own electricity, truck in our water and at this point a hot shower involves heating the water on the stove first.

When the sun rises in Baja, it creeps up over the peninsula and crests the distant San Francisco Mountains to shine across the bay and into our front window. The crashing waves sing of its ascent into the color-filled sky. Birds begin their daily flight paths along the shoreline in search of breakfast. Nature simply calls to me to come and experience Her in Her morning glory. Even before tea I often put on my shoes and take a brisk walk to the point with Rowdy, our neighbor’s dog, because it is just too stunning to miss.

There are times that the moon and the sun are simultaneously coming and going – east sports vivid orange and yellows, while west is soft purple and gold. I tilt my head back and scan the entire sky wishing I could paint it all on one canvas or at least take a picture, but it’s so vast! I have no extra extra wide angle lens and I am left speechless in awe.



Baja Landscapes #4, artist & copyright Jill Mollenhauer

Other times if it’s a low tide, we’ll cycle along the 3 miles of uninterrupted beach, stopping only to pick up shells or watch the dolphins as they play in the surf beside us. On those days we ride with Rowdy and the dolphins. Yes, they swim parallel with us as we ride. It’s heaven to return home tired and exhilarated for breakfast and coffee.



As the day warms and after chores are completed, I walk over to my studio where I always have at least one project going. Rowdy usually accompanies me to lie on the cool floor while I paint and Ms. Yeager, the cat, often sprawls across my work table to snooze or occasionally swat at my brush. I can survey the neighborhood from my perch upstairs above Ed’s house. It is open to the water and sometimes I find myself just gazing out watching. I work until hunger or some other diversion calls me to come back to the house and clean up. The gift of being able to walk away from my canvases and not look at them until I return is so refreshing. It is easy to get desensitized to them otherwise.

It’s almost impossible to not tide pool in the afternoons. There are so many treasures and surprises that are waiting to be explored! I can practically hear the ocean calling me to come and play.

And in the evenings when the sun sets behind the house over the hill we either drag the chairs out to watch from our yard or walk up to Mo and Gerry’s house. From there we can watch it slide once again into the Pacific while setting the sky afire in beauty. After dinner it is ritual to sit on the porch, wrapped in blankets if necessary, and enjoy the stars. The only place I have ever seen their brilliance and number matched in in Kauai. When sleep overtakes us we still hear the ocean calling, the waves crashing, promising another sunrise soon to come.

This is what draws me to our beach house in Baja – Nature in all her raw beauty. I am fed by it; it fuels me. I feel closer to God, my Own Self, there than in any man-made structure. The quiet contemplation, the inner delving that accompanies it excites me. And as with anything, I know that I want breaks from that too. Change is a necessity.

But while there, I love to dance with Nature.

For more information about the artwork: Jill Mollenhauer