Hi Jason, thanks for your comments. Deer and penguins, what a combination. And plastic is everywhere; a subject that I'll tackle in the future. Cheers!
Sold! Beach lover is like a dog lover. You just are or aren’t. I’m all in on both. I’d love to hear what an expert & solid writer has to say about where this thin strip of possible meets the impossible.
Well, imagine my surprise to find you here after all these years, as I lay on the floor in the Anchorage airport waiting for a flight to Homer for some winter beach walking. You helped introduce me to the wonders of the undersea world back in Kodiak circa 1998, hours upon hours of analyzing videos of crab mounds. Good memories of that time! Hard to find a beach in AZ (my current home state) so I appreciated finding your writing on the love of a quiet beach walk-whether Atlantic or Pacific! I’m looking forward to some good cold weather spring in Alaska beach time this week.
Yes! I live on a beach in Washington State, not unlike Alaska in the San Juan islands, and a doctor just suggested, "Why don't you live down south where is it warm in the winter." I was so taken aback! And miss the best time of year on the beach and in the forest?! I don't think so.
The beaches do have their wonder. We stand back from the water's edge at South Beach on San Juan Island and marvel at the power of the waves during the winter gales and king tides, returning later to search for treasures among the greatly tossed debris. In our short summers we wade in the warm waters of Jackson Beach, sit on damp driftwood as our dogs play in the light surf, and watch the paddle boarders and kayakers float about. Kids build driftwood forts and pirate ships. Others come to simply enjoy the beach walk, or sit to read. It's family time. Thank you for this essay.
Hi John, thanks for your comment. I used to visit the Friday Harbor Marine lab with other grad students from UW, and go diving for abalone and spearfishing for lingcod, often in the middle of winter. Brrrr. But what fun! Brings back many great memories.
The way you describe the beach takes me back to my honeymoon. First week of January in a condo on Galveston Island, Texas. I definitely want to revisit that on a special anniversary; it is really magical how bare, essential, yet beautiful the ocean lives in winter. Thank you for this piece, and congratulations on being featured by Substack!
Thanks, Brad, for bringing me, a landlocked Vermonter who late in life is discovering marine mollusks and other wonders of the shoreline, to a place you so obviously know and cherish.
Beautiful. Though there's no shortage of winter coastline ( ledge, mostly) around me here in midcoast Maine, I was immediately reminded of the long, long empty beaches of New Zealand's South Island, where I spent many months over many years hiking and poking around. Late fall on Stewart Island, on a trail that alternated miles in fern-lit forest with miles on windswept beaches, was always a perfect place to be. Somewhere I have a pic of a (imported) white-tail deer track next to one of a yellow-eyed penguin. Otherwise, yes, seaweeds and driftwood and shells and plastic. Thanks for the reminder.
Hi Jason, thanks for your comments. Deer and penguins, what a combination. And plastic is everywhere; a subject that I'll tackle in the future. Cheers!
Sold! Beach lover is like a dog lover. You just are or aren’t. I’m all in on both. I’d love to hear what an expert & solid writer has to say about where this thin strip of possible meets the impossible.
Well, imagine my surprise to find you here after all these years, as I lay on the floor in the Anchorage airport waiting for a flight to Homer for some winter beach walking. You helped introduce me to the wonders of the undersea world back in Kodiak circa 1998, hours upon hours of analyzing videos of crab mounds. Good memories of that time! Hard to find a beach in AZ (my current home state) so I appreciated finding your writing on the love of a quiet beach walk-whether Atlantic or Pacific! I’m looking forward to some good cold weather spring in Alaska beach time this week.
Yes! I live on a beach in Washington State, not unlike Alaska in the San Juan islands, and a doctor just suggested, "Why don't you live down south where is it warm in the winter." I was so taken aback! And miss the best time of year on the beach and in the forest?! I don't think so.
The beaches do have their wonder. We stand back from the water's edge at South Beach on San Juan Island and marvel at the power of the waves during the winter gales and king tides, returning later to search for treasures among the greatly tossed debris. In our short summers we wade in the warm waters of Jackson Beach, sit on damp driftwood as our dogs play in the light surf, and watch the paddle boarders and kayakers float about. Kids build driftwood forts and pirate ships. Others come to simply enjoy the beach walk, or sit to read. It's family time. Thank you for this essay.
Hi John, thanks for your comment. I used to visit the Friday Harbor Marine lab with other grad students from UW, and go diving for abalone and spearfishing for lingcod, often in the middle of winter. Brrrr. But what fun! Brings back many great memories.
Beautiful piece. I love the beach in all seasons. It 's beauty and awesome power remind us just how minor we are in the world.
The way you describe the beach takes me back to my honeymoon. First week of January in a condo on Galveston Island, Texas. I definitely want to revisit that on a special anniversary; it is really magical how bare, essential, yet beautiful the ocean lives in winter. Thank you for this piece, and congratulations on being featured by Substack!
Thanks, Brad, for bringing me, a landlocked Vermonter who late in life is discovering marine mollusks and other wonders of the shoreline, to a place you so obviously know and cherish.
Beautiful. Though there's no shortage of winter coastline ( ledge, mostly) around me here in midcoast Maine, I was immediately reminded of the long, long empty beaches of New Zealand's South Island, where I spent many months over many years hiking and poking around. Late fall on Stewart Island, on a trail that alternated miles in fern-lit forest with miles on windswept beaches, was always a perfect place to be. Somewhere I have a pic of a (imported) white-tail deer track next to one of a yellow-eyed penguin. Otherwise, yes, seaweeds and driftwood and shells and plastic. Thanks for the reminder.