22 June 2007

Beach Boy

062107Seapoint

When I got off work this morning and headed home, the weather was about as perfect as could be - sunny, breezy, warm but not hot. And as it was the first day of summer, it seemed right to go to the beach. Seapoint Beach, our little local beach, is only about 2 miles from our house. The photo above is a blurry Photomerge that I'll have to replace someday with something nicer, but you can see how uncrowded it is. There are no concessions, no touristy shops; the beach is a municipal park and only locals are allowed to park in the small gravel lot right at the beach.

The natural breakwater right in the center has a lot of tidal pools just like this.

062107Tidal_pool

So after I set up my little beach chair, I headed over with camera to see what I could find in them. Unfortunately, I don't have a polarizing filter for this lens yet, so my apologies for the glare.

062107Green_crab
A fairly large green crab trying to hide


062107Anemone
The blurry peach-colored blob is an anemone.

062107Anemone_too
And here's a brown anemone.

062107Urchin
This urchin had used some of its hundreds of sucker "feet" to camouflage itself with snails, some of which didn't seem to thrilled to be there.

062107Tiny_crab
This little guy was about the size of a penny, for you folks who need a reference.


When I arrived, I set my little chair up at a respectful distance from any of the other 4 or 5 groups who were already there, as beach etiquette dictates. When I came back from taking photos, the beach was barely any more crowded, but two women with small children had set up their blankets and collection of beach toys only about 8ft. away from my chair. With about a football field's worth of open space available to them.

Not particularly caring to listen in on their conversation about which disposable diapers are best to prevent chafing when taking the children to the beach (yes, this was the actual conversation-in-progress), I put away my camera in the car, then came back and picked up my things and moved them about 200ft. further down the beach, to an area that was not only very open but also closer to the water, so that the incoming tide would wake me up if I happened to fall asleep in the sun too long.

Guess where they decided to bring the kids to play in the surf? Some people are just oblivious. A minor annoyance, fortunately, and not enough to ruin a very pleasant afternoon. My knees got a bit sunburned, but it should fade to brown in a few days.

Knitting?

Despite all the nature photography lately, I have been doing some knitting. Got a bit more done on the sock last night work, and tonight I started doing a swatch of the latest iteration of the wedding vest motif. I'm doing a circular swatch with steek so I can a) get an accurate representation of my gauge, and b) play around a bit with steeking, since I've not done it before. Photos of those when I've got something worth showing.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Someone always seems to park themselves right next to me whenever I go to the beach too. Why is that?! I only go once or twice a year for that reason.

Elemmaciltur said...

Ahhhh...I can breath again. The poo post is pushed downwards. :-p

Sheepish Annie said...

Wonderful photos! (if I end up buying a new camera, it will be on your head!!!) Quick question, though: how can you tell when a snail is unhappy! I've never really been able to discern any sort of mood in a snail...

Happy Knitting! Can't wait to see it in progress.

Unknown said...

I can practically smell the ocean air...reminds me I haven't been to the beach in a while...it always makes me so calm....even with children around.

Anonymous said...

Seapoint is my absolute favorite beach in the area! I haven't been yet this year.

knitnzu said...

Maybe you can make a small kid/baby version of the vest as a swatch? Didja know those green crabs are nonnative and invasive? That those urchins have the longest scientific name? That barnacle's sci name always reminds me of that raunchy song of which I only know the words 'barnacle bill the sailor' (what good is that?). That I used to see nudibranchs in the pools, but haven't in a while...did you see any? Well, if I was there we could've talked scat or something grosser and see if those women noticed!

Unknown said...

Time for a trip to ME. Thanks for bringing back lovely memories of the beaches. Kittery was where my kids first really got acquainted with the ocean and all its natural wonders. And yes, I kept my kids away from lone sunbathers.

I miss New England terribly. When it comes time for me to get out of NJ, I think I'll be headed for NH or ME.

knitnzu said...

So do you guys live trap out your mice? How far do you have to take them so they don't come back? My SIL called to ask how far to transport a groundhog...we said across the river (~15 miles from her!).