Morning on The Spit… an incredible time in an incredible place.

It is so interesting to see this place, but morning (and evening as well) are incredible to behold.

I went for a quick and late debris collection trip on the beach just before closing last night. As the clouded sun falls behind the mountains, The Spit has such a calmness that it feels that it really is the end of a day and nature is taking a breather. The harbor is filled with thousands of ducks and brants of various species, calmly floating in big flocks. The open water side is becoming calmer as if it were tucking itself in for the night as well. People are gone. Nature seems at rest.

In the morning, however, a new day begins and the cycle of thing starts over. Everything in nature feels new and fresh and ready to start the day. As I type this the tide is coming in and will be high shortly, no one is here yet, and there is a bit of surf so walking on the beach becomes interesting with so little of it to walk on. I see six ships in the Strait – what appears to be a tanker, a smaller ship, and four cargo vessels to quench our thirst for cheap products made offshore.

I also see birds swarming in fast-moving flocks, darting about like schools of fish making sudden choreographed turns. As I look out across the harbor toward the flash of the lighthouse I see some ducks sitting in the calm waters.

The beach is an interesting place. Everything is destroyed and rebuilt minute by minute. On The Spit, we have more than just sand so it is quite obvious the changes that occur. Logs are moved, gravel bars appear and reappear, and the assortment of flotsam and jetsam washing ashore is sure to surprise. The constant action of erosion of the nearby sand bluffs deposits sand at the end past the lighthouse so it is growing 13-15 feet a year. It is so alive with action!

It is a gray, cloudy day today, but I have become accustomed to that. The sunny days are so beautiful here; I can deal with the overcast ones.

This place is something to marvel at.