Day at the Beach

Took this week off to do some wandering and relaxing, as I did about this time last year. Started off the week yesterday with a trip out to Ocean Shores, WA. The last time I went there, my younger brother and sister were visiting, and the GPS led us to the middle of parking lot at the local high school, and I got one of the worst migraines I've ever had and couldn't think well enough to get us to the beach (approximately twenty feet away)(OK, slight exaggeration, but only slight) and I did a lot of getting mad at my brother and sister for expecting me to take the big sister role and be In Charge and it just wasn't my most shining moment or the best day ever.

A few driftwood logs made a nice place to stop for a picnic lunch.

Yesterday...was solitary, but relaxing. I did learn that apparently Android GPS cannot be relied upon to get to Ocean Shores. The freebie Google Maps lady dumped me repeatedly, and though I did stop once to sweet-talk her into continuing to provide guidance, she turned her back on me again a few miles down the road. Fine, be that way, see if I care. She also pronounces "Rainier" as "Rain-yay" and Port Angeles as "Port Angles," which disturbs me, especially considering she knows how to say "Puyallup." Makes me wonder if she's mispronouncing just to annoy me.

I love all the different patterns the water leaves behind on the sand!

It being a weekday and not a particularly hot day, the beach was mostly empty. Once I got a few dozen yards beyond the access point, I pretty much had the sand to myself, except for about a bazillion seagulls. I believe they must nest here--there were *scads* of them, many of which didn't look entirely mature. Made me realize I've not really seen baby seagulls. There are quite a lot of gulls in Olympia: they wander the parking lot at work sometimes in unruly mobs, or fight the unruly mobs of crows in a bizarre bird gang warfare, but they all seem to be more or less adults.

I walked quite a long way, until I was tired and highly relaxed, and then walked back. Oh, I wish I could bring that *sound* back with me! That's what gets me the most about the ocean: the sound of the surf.

When I got back to my parking spot, I stopped long enough to buy an ice cream cone at a shop by the parking area, and then headed home. I did take a quick break in Aberdeen on the way back. They have a Staples *right next* to a Goodwill there. That's just unfair. Got a nice EMI recording of Mendelssohn's "Italian" symphony. I was good and didn't spend money at Staples, though I did wander the aisles a bit.

Today is my second day off, and I've accomplished considerably less. Mostly have been reading and scribbling and getting locked in pointless overanalyzing. For example, made a cup of Earl Grey tea, which I remember someone (Dad?) referring to as "perfumey," and started thinking about that word and how it really could mean just about anything considering how many types of perfume there are, and this bugged me, so I sat down to write a rant on the subject just to get it out of my system, and then I started looking up "perfumey" in various dictionaries, which were all very vague, which seems like a cop-out on the part of dictionary makers, but on the other hand, if they weren't vague, then they'd be defining "perfumey" based on their own life experience and that would be wrong.

So...yeah, it's after lunch time, and I'm just sittin' here sipping lukewarm Earl Grey. And thinking back on yesterday.

I like the way the water, land and sky all blend together here...