If you are fortunate enough to be at a beach at low tide you may find a sand bar with a tidal pool. Personally, this is my favorite moment when at the shore, especially if alone on the beach. Very often the newly exposed wet sand is hard, firm and smooth under your feet. The larger rocks & jetties are within full view showing their coat of barnacles. My feet are relieved with the sure footing! As you stroll along looking for sea glass amongst the seaweed, you come to the clearest water of the ocean…a tidal pool.
Here, spread out before your eyes, is an entire underwater city fully visible without a magnifying glass. Walk gingerly to not disturb the residents left to attend their homeland. Periwinkles seem to cling for their lives. Micro-mini schools of fish appear confused but comfortable traveling in large numbers. I don’t think a fiddler crab gives a fiddle. Hermit crabs just scurry & burrow being true to their reclusive nature unaware of the other crabs. A rogue fish or two patrol the perimeters. Starfish shine in daylight. Clams squirt as you exit their domain. A stroke of luck if you find driftwood. Abandoned seashells are collected. Should jewelry be made from them or perhaps wind chimes?
These are the treasures that the sea holds in the rented space of the tidal pool. It’s not permanent. It will never be the same again. Living in the moment is what they do. You, being there, give a permanent connection to them, forever…a solitary moment of perfection.
I don’t always feel like carrying a bucket or bag for these ‘fruits de mer’. On these days, upon arriving home, I contemplate the amount of sand & seaweed I bring home in those personal nether places best not mentioned! I have seaside residue where I didn’t know I had places!
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