We’ve spent the last four days “down the shore” with friends at our neighbors’ shore house in Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island. For the next few days I’ll be taking you along with me ... down the Jersey shore.
I love early morning walks on the beach before most other people get there. The sands are freshly groomed and all traces of yesterday’s beach goers have been removed, leaving a clean slate for the new day. I share the sand with a few other early morning walkers, an assortment of gulls, and a woman with a metal detector. The other walkers are clutching their coffee mugs in their hands while my hands hold my camera. We nod and say “good morning” to each other, smiling as if to say “isn’t this a beautiful morning?” without saying it out loud.
The gulls eye me warily. Possibly sizing me up for a handout of food.
Gull crossing!
The waves lap at my feet as I walk along, leaving a foamy trail of suds behind.
Upended shells capture “sea suds.”
The water is warm this morning but the waves are mighty as they relentlessly pound the shore.
My footprints behind me in the sand look indelible.
But as the next waves washes over them they disappear as if they never existed.
The sand at the water’s edge is an ever changing canvas whose artwork lies in the shells and other objects left behind. Waves roll in and shells are deposited at its highest point. Some are carried back out, tumbling over and over, caught in the strong pull of the receding water. Each new wave rearranges the objects on the canvas of sand. It never ceases to fascinate me.
For a beachcomber like me, morning is the absolute best time of the day.
Posted by Lynne on 08/17/2010 at 06:57 AM
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Daily Life •
My thoughts •
Life in New Jersey •
Birds •
Capers with Kim