The ocean is a whole new world for our family. It’s beautiful and mysterious, vast and wild, incredibly fascinating and a little terrifying. It actually boggles my mind to think about the depth and breadth of it, and the unknown quantities of hidden creatures it contains. I have taken the kayak out on a couple sheltered bays, but I think it will be a while before we’re brave enough to venture out into the big water on our own. The unpredictability of the wind and the waves and the hazards of fluctuating tides, rocks and shoals are daunting to say the least.
One thing we have wholeheartedly embraced, though, is the adventure of beach combing. It feels like a safe way to experience the ocean. We get to feel the spray, smell the saltwater, even get our feet wet—but without much risk. Because of the tide fluctuation the shoreline is a moody, ever changing, wonderfully unpredictable landscape and you never know what you will find. Every time we go, there is something new to discover.
An abalone shell.
A sea urchin.
Purple starfish.
A nudibranch.
Sea anemone waving their arms in shallow tidal pools.
Far out, an orca blowing.
Crabs scuttling along rocky bottoms.
A mink, fishing for his seafood breakfast.
We have seen and learned so many new things in the last few months, and I know we’ve barely scratched the surface of what there is to discover!
“O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.” (Psalm 104:24-25)
Rejoicing Hills 