Tag Archives: Pelican Beach

A Kinder, Gentler Tsunami

No, we’re not completely nuts.

And yes, we did go down to our beach on Friday’s glorious spring morning in the company of about fifteen of our neighbors to watch the tsunami surges come in.

In defense of our decision to head towards the water when there was a tsunami warning for our area, please note: the warning was for a 3-4 foot wave during the low of low tide, and we were standing on a cliff 50 feet above the beach where the crows fly at eye level. Plus, it was a beautiful day, and Hwy 92 was completely jammed with the sane people who were “heading for higher ground,” so there would be no heading over the hill any time soon anyway. (There were still cars parked at the summit when I came home from work later on, leading one to the conclusion that there are some VERY nervous people out there.)

In addition, this was our second “potential tsunami with lots of warning” experience in just over a year, so I suppose we were a little more seasoned and calmer about the whole thing.

After all, we walk past this sign every day. It points to our house on the hill.

As the surge started, the water receded farther than we had ever seen it before at any low tide.

Within about three minutes, it had pushed into a decent high tide. We shot some video of one of the surges.

We’ve seen some pretty spectacular water down there in the past year.

But this, while not overly dramatic from an “Oh My! Look at those waves!” kind of way, was amazing to watch. The water just keep coming in, uncoupled from the usual “sets of seven” wave behavior. These weren’t merely waves: this was a tsunami.

We were watching incredibly pure, powerful and beautiful liquid energy pulsing across the empty, broad, beach.

This sand is accustomed to the pounding surge, and no one here was going to get hurt, which made our experience merely benignly fascinating. This, in stark contrast to the videos we watched of the horrific Sendai experience as it unfolded, made our privileged perch that much more profound and sobering.

Why do some people get to live in peace and safety while others don’t?

The Treasures of Pelican Beach

Ever watch people at the beach sauntering along the wave line–occasionally bending over to pick up something out of the sand–and think, “What a waste of time!”?

Think again.

Or better yet, try it.

Let your eyes wander over the smallest details of that amazing place called “the beach,” and discover gems of glass, edges softened by the pounding surge.

With such a simple task assigned to your eyes, the rest of your body, mind, and spirit is free to simply soak in all the beauty and healing that can be absorbed there.

Plus, it makes for a great team sport.

It’s especially wonderful when you find exactly the right hunting grounds that are ripe with gems for the harvest, allowing you to get your fingers wet while not putting you in the line of fire for a class-A soaker in your new boots.

Actually, I got the soaker anyway about ten minutes later while taking this next shot.

That kind of thing can sneak up on you when you’re concentrating on aperture settings and composition.

Not all the treasures we find are cool shells, rocks, and glass bits that can be tucked in a pocket and taken home.

At first, Rick thought this was a sponge. At the size of a large tangerine, he didn’t expect it to be a HUGE ball of fish roe. We left it there, on the theory that the incoming tide might take it back out to sea and give those 1467 seedlings a shot at life. But trust me, the opportunity to take it home and conduct experiments with $1467 worth of generic-brand caviar was a grave temptation indeed.

Sometimes the free gift is an unexpected opportunity to strut your ability to fly in front of your new friends, MiniMe and MicroMe.

Winnie can be such a show-off.

Occasionally the prize is an exquisite pendant just waiting to be strung. This one even came with a pre-drilled hole.

Coming across a piece of brilliantly polished glass gleaming happily against the neutral tones of sand and gravel is almost as good for the constitution as an out-of-control belly laugh.

Rick and I aren’t the only ones who enjoy beach combing. Can you see what Winnie was keeping an eye out for?

As in all other things, the joy of discovery is in the eye of the beholder.

While he doesn’t display much enthusiasm for glass bits, he seemed delighted by his free hacky-sack.

We try to keep an open mind on what counts as “cool.” Anyone know what that stone might be?

All the baubles and sunlight and beauty aside, the very best part of walking the beach together is the together part and knowing that the gentle hand and guitar-calloused fingers holding out 10-minutes worth of poking around in the tidal pools belong to your best friend.