Life's A Beach

This morning we went to the beach on Long Island, Washington. We watched these funny little birds scurry around. They stayed close together, moved in unison, and gobbled up whatever it was they were chasing. They remind me of two things at once - "All I Ever Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten" and a saying my grandmother had on her kitchen wall, "The hurrier I go the behinder I get".

If anyone knows the name of these funny little creatures, let me know.

Beach Birds

In addition to watching their little legs scurry around in the sand, it was fascinating to see the prints they left behind.Footprints in the Sand


Of course there were plenty of gulls. I loved the reflection in the water as the tide went out.
Reflections

You can tell that it was an overcast day. It was actually fairly warm until around 4:00. The water, however, was quite cool. The gull and I were both a little leery about getting our feet wet.Wet Feet

I watched this gull for quite a while. He was sitting in the sand and let me get quite close. When he finally decided I was crossing the line, I was able to get about 20 shots of his take-off and flight. It was pretty cool.Ready For Take-Off

Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it... ?Batman?Batman Shadow


Later in day we went to another beach where there was the remains of a ship wreck. You can read more about hereShipwreck I

Shipwreck II

Shipwreck III


After seeing the shipwreck we explored this beach. We were looking for sand dollars when I spotted a perfectly round, bright one!Birdie, Birdie
A few months ago my sister posted to her blog a chant we each used to sing as little girls:
Birdie, Birdie in the sky
Let a white wash in my eye
I didn't laugh and I didn't cry
I'm just glad that cows don't fly

Not everything that's gold glitters. These may not be bright and shiny, but they are the real thing.Sand dollars in the Tide


The concept that simply wouldn't soak into my brain today was that you could be lost in the woods and 100 yards away there was a beach. Evidence of the marriage of the two ecosystems is seen in this tree stump only a few feet from high tide.Beached Tree


Finally this evening we found the area we'd been waiting for all day. We wanted to wait until evening so that we could catch it in the golden hours. Unfortunately (although probably pretty consistently for the area) there were almost no clear rays of light as the sun went down, just clouds. We didn't get the vibrant colors we wanted, but the scene was amazing anyway.

Light My Way

Lighthouses have become so cliche. That does not make the cliche untrue. There really was a sense of awe and presence as I sat at the foot of the lighthouse and painted. And the sound of the waves, sounding like thunder as they crashed against the rocks, startled me as well as comforted me.

This photo was actually taken before we found the lighthouse. The lighting came out so dramatic that I decided to use it to close my blog. It feels like sunset and I need to have the sun set on this day. So many fun discoveries, but Oh Myyyyy and I beat!End of My Day