wanders...

to a rocky beach at high tide, the shore tucked up against a steep embankment of trees, late afternoon sun on a hot day disappearing behind, leaving the water's edge in shade. plenty to be discovered along this stretch, a place i've somehow never been to before. an meandering shoreline found after a walk through lush woods, following a winding switchback trail down to the beach. do you follow the same route (be it beach, forest, field or street), a set of regulars, or try to find a new trail each time, if you walk? i suppose i have a few regulars, beach and forest (sometimes both in one), but i am always happy to discover a new one.



the uneven terrain of large rocks kept my eyes low, careful of my footing, but it is always good to stop once in awhile and gather one's bearings, see what is on the horizon. i spotted the above collection of rocks, waiting on a larger stone to be discovered. it's interesting to wonder who collected them, what they were aiming for, if anything. and i found some of the largest mask limpets i've ever seen - one was easily 2" across, which my book tells me is the max size for these fellows (although i don't suppose the limpets themselves read the reference books), and many were nearly that big. i normally see them about 1" or less.



and tucked amongst some rocks at the edge of a shallow pool were these ribs, four of them. i suspect they are from a seal, although none were broken to expose the telltale porous structure typical of marine mammals versus those on land. i suppose they could be from a deer too, although they seemed too small for even our tiny coastal black-tails. what sort of things do you keep an eye out for when exploring the local landscape? i can certainly say i have found considerably more curious items in all my years of beachcombing, but there is something about bones that fascinates me.



we are heading into one of the busiest long weekends of the year around here, although since i already have mondays off this summer it doesn't feel much different. in this case though, A has sunday and monday off, so we are trying to plan a last minute adventure that hopefully avoids the crowds (no ferries, no tofino). how about you? what are you doing this weekend?

--------------------------------------------

• loving this wonderful little story from Regina.