“Uh-oh. Courtney’s going to be upset about this,” Nin said to June.

June had no reply, only a funny look on her face.

Nin and her sisters were all gathered around, scattered out, sitting in their lawn chairs. To each side of them were large concrete walls – but that wasn’t what had caught my attention.

“So this is the rich man’s work?” I asked as I looked down into the man-made river that ended in a pool directly in front of us. A sea lion looked back at me from the pool, with mist swarming all around his body. It was like he was smiling at me.

I wasn’t mad — I’m not sure why my grandmother thought I would be upset over this. To the left of the sea lion was an ape. He was sitting in the pool, water up to his torso. He seemed to be thinking very seriously about something.

“I’m not mad.” It was actually a thing of beauty. The river wound through the trees and out of site, apes dotting the water, with the mist circling around them and out into the trees.

The sea lion nodded, dove under the surface and began to swim up river.