...and Sea Creatures

The tide has been out for the holiday weekend. I was amazed at the lengths they would go to around here to attract tourists. A low tide on the first weekend of 'summer' was a perfect idea to get the people out and about to check out the sea creatures. The mechanics of such a project have to have been on a grand scale.

We were off to the water Sunday morning to greet the water dwellers on to land as their home receded into the sound. There were plenty of visitors from the salty water of the sound to delight the crowds of people scouring the beach. We walked over from the ferry landing to the fishing pier and found active crabs and eels. We hadn't seen many live crabs, usually the seagulls get them picked apart before the tide goes back out. This leaves empty crab shells all over the beach. When I saw one I would poke at it and it would flop open exposing the empty casing where the meat of the crab had once been. It was disappointing each time to see dead crabs.

This Sunday was crab and eel day for us at low tide. Near the fishing pier was a long trail of seaweed washed on the beach. The seaweed hid the crabs from their enemies and when you lifted the seaweed the crabs scattered across the sand. We moved a rock and the crabs under the rocks would dig deeper, settling themselves into more firm positions in the sand.

We poked at crabs, watched fish and eels squirm in the shallow water, touched barnacles, starfish and anemone. The low tide fails none on providing entertainment.

Shane and Sophia dug in the sand for a while until "I'm hungry" was repeated enough times to carry some validity. We walked home, stopping at a local restaurant where Sophia ate chocolate and banana crepes for lunch. Shane had pancakes. I had a bowl of clam chowder. Sophia's plate had chocolate, bananas and whipped cream. She nearly finished all of the meal bragging about how sweet and yummy her lunch was, especially the whipped cream.

A black dog sat beneath the table next to us. After the kids had finished their lunch they approached the dog's owner about petting the dog. They told the dog's owner about their dog back home and how they missed her. I'm not sure if they were expecting a quarter.

We stopped at the library, picked out some new books and went to the park near the library. While we played at the park Steve from home called with news he was in town. I called Traci and arrangements were made for Traci to pick Steve up and bring him to Edmonds for the evening. I played a couple rounds of tag and we headed back to the house to get prepared for a visitor from Troy.

Traci arrived back in Edmonds safely. I was relieved to have Traci home and excited to have Steve come with her for a visit. We talked a bit, gave Steve the house tour, and walked down to the Mexican restaurant downtown. It was nice to have someone from home to show our new surroundings to. We talked all evening eventually having to take Steve back to his hotel.