Day 29 - From Wetlands to Hollywood Bowl - A Day of Gentle and Grand Expansions

Day 29 began quietly in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands with my friend Mandy, searching for bird species I'd never seen before. Bird watching isn't new to me—I love spending time there, usually captivated by the nesting blue herons in the palm trees, watching their babies through binoculars, or observing the resident osprey pair. During elegant tern "dating" season in spring, their cacophony drowns out everything else in the area, and I always try to catch their performance at least once.

But intentionally hunting for new species? I rarely make time for that - especially on a weekday.Instead of gravitating toward my familiar favorites, we chose a path less traveled for us. The rewards were immediate—a juvenile Black-crowned Night heron who allowed us to get surprisingly close, and then the real treasure: a pair of Yellow-crowned Night herons, absolutely gorgeous birds I'd never seen before.

The discovery that excited me most was spotting my first Reddish egret. Similar to the Glossy ibis I'd seen this spring, but with distinctly different body and neck proportions that made identification thrilling. There's something wonderful about training your eye to notice subtle differences, about becoming more attuned to the diversity that exists in familiar places.

This gentle morning exploration set me up perfectly for something that didn't technically meet my "new" criteria but definitely provided a fantastic stretch—heading to the Hollywood Bowl for my first concert of the season to see Mumford and Sons.

I've seen them three times before, including once at the Bowl six years ago when I waited too long to buy tickets and ended up three rows from the back. This time I was smarter—we found great seats right in the middle section, perfect for enjoying the performance with excellent acoustics and prime positioning for the ending fireworks show.

The contrast between the quiet, contemplative morning in the wetlands and the evening surrounded by 20,000 people at one of LA's most iconic venues created this beautiful arc of nervous system engagement. From the focused attention required for bird identification to the sensory immersion of live music and crowd energy, my system got stretched in all the best ways.

There's something profound about a day that moves from intimate nature observation to grand musical spectacle. The morning taught me about patient attention and the rewards of intentional seeking, while the evening reminded me why live music in a legendary venue with thousands of other music lovers creates its own kind of magic.

Both experiences required presence—the wetlands demanding quiet focus and careful observation, the Bowl asking for surrender to the sensory feast of music, lights, and collective energy. Different kinds of expansion, but equally nourishing.

Days like this remind me that nervous system challenges don't always have to be solitary or uncomfortable. Sometimes they look like exploring familiar places with fresh intention, and sometimes they look like claiming better seats at venues you love, surrounded by friends and strangers all celebrating the same beautiful noise together.

From Black-crowned Night herons to Mumford and Sons—what a fantastic day of stretching my system in all the best ways.