On the other side of the glass tank, a sea otter floated on its back, its legs gently swaying in the water.

Watching it, I felt equally chilled out, after what had been a stressful morning — a stressfulweek.

We were on a short road trip, the first time our family had returned to the Monterey Bay Aquarium since the pandemic began. During the facility’s closure, our family had followed updates about theAfrican penguinroaming its empty halls and participated in its online soothing meditations, featuring its moon jellies, sea nettles, kelp forest and other attractions.

I had recently realized that more than half my time at home with my 10-year-old twins was already over, if they go off to college when they turn 18. Though we still have years and years together, though we exasperate each other quite often, nostalgia hit me hard.

An overnight trip to the Central Coast gave us a chance to make more memories, relaxing and adventurous in equal measure.

As they raced between exhibits, the boys could have been toddlers again. “It’s so amazing, I almost fainted,” Gege said.

“Dory! Nemo!” Didi exclaimed at a tank of tropical fish like those in the Pixar film.

The murmur of the masked crowd seemed at times as loud as the roar of the waves outside. Silvery sardines circled in an infinite loop; spectral jellyfish floated through the blue; and giant sea bass, scalloped hammerhead sharks and sea turtles glided in a massive tank.Research suggeststhat viewing aquarium displays leads to noticeable reductions in blood pressure and heart rate, and that higher numbers of fish help hold people’s attention for longer and improve their moods.

Hours later, when we exited the aquarium, I felt as though I’d gotten a massage.

After lunch, our next stop was the nearbyMonarch Butterfly Sanctuaryin Pacific Grove, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tiny, delicate creatures before they left their overwintering sites. After a decline in numbers in recent years, the population boomed this season.

Shedding our sweaters, we strolled through the grove. In the early afternoon, the monarchs fluttered among the eucalyptus, pine and cypress trees, their black-and-orange wings striking against the sky. I marveled anew at their two-way migration, carried out over generations across thousands of miles,guidedby magnetic fields and the position of the sun.

It’s no surprise that research suggests that time spent in nature relieves stress, anxiety and depression. A theory I came across resonated with me: People exposed to constant stimulation develop cognitive fatigue.

In a so-called restorative environment, we feel a sense of escape from the demands of daily life. In addition, the perception of vastness and connectedness helps promote that sense of getting away.

这样的地方肯定作为解毒剂doomscrolling and the alienation we’ve grown used to during the pandemic and the global turmoil of recent years, including this week’s Russian attack on Ukraine.

The next day, we made our way up the coast, carpeted with orange poppies, the gold of wild mustard and wood sorrel. We hoped to catch another kind of cyclical migration at Año Nuevo State Park, which has one of the largest mainland northern elephant seal breeding colonies in the world.

Here they return after a foraging tripthousands of milesinto the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We couldn’tbook reservations及时加入3 - 4英里,引导走。但we followed a tip and strolled to Cove Beach, where we came upon several juvenile males, sunning themselves on the sand.

The air was briny and bracing. We gave the elephant seals a wide berth, though even from a distance, the sight was not only jaw-dropping but also deeply moving.

As we chatted with a volunteer docent, an elephant seal stretched its flipper, reaching to itch a scratch.

“They have fingernails,” she said with delight.

“Somehow, we’re related,” I said. We both laughed, the day made even brighter.