Walking The Beach In The Rain...

Having been camped up the house for a day and a half, we decided a walk on the nearby beach would be good, regardless of the winter rain...

Walking along the beached logs...

some look like giant whale vertebrae.

In a driftwood house...

we found sanctuary from the rain.

I loved these sweet little sea birds, as they joyfully played in the chilly

water.  Swimming and diving like synchronized swimmers with dear little

swim caps on their heads... (any idea's on what they might be?)

Who was watching who..???  I'm not sure, but these NorthWest Crows

have certainly got their act together, feeding on all manner of shellfish, washed-up

half eaten carrion, and of course goodies that unsuspecting picnic-ers who turn there 

back for a second and don't know how wily these corvid characters can be... 

I love going to the beach at any time of year,,, its ever changing, inspiring and beautiful.

Here's a Mary Oliver poem I'd like to share...

Winter

And the waves

gush pearls

from their snowy throats

as they come 

leaping 

over the moss-green,

black-green,

glass-green roughage--

as they crumble

on the incline

scattering

whatever they carry

in their invisible

and motherly

hands:

stones,

seaweed,

mussels,

icy and plump

with waled shells,

waiting

for the gatherers

who come flying

on their long white wings--

who comes walking,

who comes muttering:

thank you,

old dainties,

dark wreckage,

coins of the sea

in my pockets

and plenty for the gulls

and wind still pounding

and the sea still streaming in like a mother wild with gifts--

in this world i am as rich

as I need to be.