A Walk on the Beach

The point at Golden Gardens - normally all this sand is underwater

Sunday, my husband and I managed to sneak away from all of our various obligations for a short while and go for a walk along the beach.  It's been ages since we managed that - I think maybe even last year which is simply sad, considering how close it is. 

The cool morning air and lightly overcast skies made it perfect weather and meant that when we arrived the beach was still relatively empty.  And at low, low tide!  Seattle's beaches don't have the cool, huge rocks that make tidepooling such a delight in other places.  Instead, our beaches have lots of little stones and a few big ones, scattered here and there.  With the tide out, the first thing you see is lots and lots of bright green sea lettuce and eal grass, but if you look more closely there are all sorts of hidden surprises. 

I thought I'd share.

I love the lines drawn in the sand by the retreating water

The floats in this seaweed look just like crab claws

A sailboat anchored just offshore - I'd love to go sail in it!

More lines in the sand - organic patterns, yippee!

Sea stones

pilings from an old pier - normally they're underwater

barnacles on on of the pilings

I found a crab hiding underneath this rock.  Love the textures!

Doesn't this remind you of a bezeled cabochon?

a perfect seashore still life

another texture shot - makes me want to do a freeform piece

encrustations

these mussels are about the size of my pinky nail - tiny!

A dungeness crab's molted shell

It just makes me want to break out the beads and start playing!  Oh, and in case you're wondering - the beach is Golden Gardens, just a few miles north of downtown Seattle in Ballard.