SoCS – Puzzling about the Tidepools
The Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “puzzle.” We use it any way we’d like!
I’m thankful to live close to the water all my life, places such as Hong Kong, Portland in Oregon, Seattle in Washington, and Orange County in California. Water is gentle, soft, soothing and yet it can be powerful and forceful.
I love walking around Laguna Lake, which is one mile from home. It takes 3 minutes to drive or 20 minutes to walk there. I also love to take day trips to the beaches. The most visited beaches are Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach. They are about 30 to 33 miles from home and take about 35 to 45 minutes to get there.
Hubby and I went to Laguna Beach on Wednesday, September 15. It had been almost two years since our last visit. It is a small city with less than 10 square miles, but there are a lot of things to do for the locals and visitors. The weather treated us well with mild sun, clear sky and a gentle breeze.
When we visited Laguna Beach years and years ago, we took many quarters to feed the parking meters. Eventually the parking meters are converted to taking credit card payment even though the coin slots are still there. When we came on the weekends, we usually circled around many times to find a parking, but on this day, we spotted many available spaces closed to the beach.
It was lunchtime when we arrived, so we went to our regular seafood restaurant right by the beach to have lunch. Hubby had a fish and chips, and I had a Fettucine Alfredo with shrimp. Hubby had three bottles of Bud Light. I ordered a Genius Taut for its bitter taste but drank only half of it because I’m allergic to alcohol. Hubby helped to share half of mine.
We visited several art galleries. I enjoyed many of the contemporary, abstract art as well as the landscape, and portrait. We saw some contemporary and inventive sculptures and also realistic sculptures.
There are three beach valley ball nets on the beach. On our previous trips, we saw people playing valley balls, but it was quiet on Wednesday. I wasn’t sure if it was a pandemic restriction or because it was a weekday.
My favorite thing is walking from the beach valley ball area to the tidepools to look at the little sea creatures in the rocky area where the ocean meets the land. This area has many pockets of sea water usually filled with snails, sea slugs, sea cucumber, mussels, sea stars, hermit crabs, and small fish. Families came with their children, who went from one pocket of water to another to look at these sea creatures.
As we walked closer to the tidepool area, to my surprise, the area was diminished significantly. Only a couple of pieces of rock were above the sand, and the lower rocks were not there. Hubby saw my puzzling look, saw the rows and rows of tire tracks on the sand, and said, “It seems like they brought in truckloads of sand.”
“Why did they cover the tidepools with sand?”
The remaining couple pieces of rocks above the sand didn’t collect too much water with sea creatures in them. I was somewhat disappointed. The sand level looked like higher than what I remembered. It could have been between the timing of the tide and the timing of adding sand to the beach. The tide was coming in and the waves were high by the time we were there. The tidepools could be under the water. The more I think about that, the clearer I see those tidepools under the water.
I had fun taking tons of photos and videos of the waves pounding the beach and the rocks. There were two surfers, one on the left and one on the right of the video.
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Thank you for reading.
Have a wonderful weekend!
SoCS – Puzzling about the Tidepools
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The Showers of Blessings 
Thank you for sharing your lovely day at the beach with us, Miriam. I enjoyed it!
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It was a pleasant day, Liz. I think we’ll take more day trips now. I’m glad you enjoyed the waves.
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My husband and I used to take day trips on a regular basis, pre-pandemic. We’re now a bit housebound because our dog is having health problems.
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Oh, your dog’s health is a tough issue when you want to go places, Liz.
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It is, but we really don’t mind. He’s just getting old faster than we are.
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Is dog’s life span about 1/3 of human’s?
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That sounds about right.
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I left a comment and message on your post today, Liz. Congratulations on your new release.
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Thank you, Miriam. I just left you a response.
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Looks so wonderful! The pictures are gorgeous!
❤
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I’m glad you liked the photos, Isha! Thank you.
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The water is beautiful! I could happily spend time on that beach 🙂
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It sounds like a perfect day, Miriam. I’ve always loved the ocean and plan to go next week to a writer’s retreat – so excited!
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Oh, wow! Ocean front is a perfect place for a writer’s retreat, Teri! I can see your excitement. Enjoy!
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That is a baffling as to why they’d fill in the tidepools with sand, Miriam. Those are such fascinating places to wander and watch sea life. I hope they had a good reason. I can see that you love the beach and beach combing. My favorite reason to go to the beach is the food! Lol. It looks like you enjoy that too. 😀
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I don’t understand that either, Diana. I looked at some old photos of Laguna Beach during the waves pounding the shore. The sand looked lower and revealed many pots of tidepools. I’m curious about that. Seafood is good. The last time I had Fish and Chips was when going to Neskowin Beach with my daughter’s family last month. 🙂
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I think WA has better seafood, but Oregon isn’t bad by any standard. 🙂
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CA is not a fishing state. WA and OR have better seafood. The news last night said in WA the salmon is getting smaller but more expensive. The clams are 5 times less than 10 years ago. All due to climate change of warmer water. Food of all kind is getting expensive. 😦
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Oh dear. I’m not surprised, but there is trouble ahead on every front until we deal with the climate.
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Yes, we thought Al Gore was a fool then. It’s almost too late for us now, but hope not.
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We both love the water/ocean. Its my stress reliever 🏖🌊
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Exactly, Susie! I can watch the waterfalls, ocean, lakes, river, and anything water all the time.
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What a great outing..beautiful beach ..make me want to return to California..thanks Anita
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I’m sure you’ve seen many beautiful beaches, Anita! Thank you for your comment.
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Soooo beautiful Miriam and such a nice time with your hubby. I LOVE the beach and how lovely to live right there and a great time to go on a Wed before it heats up with people. Glad you had fun. My son would have been one of those 2 boys surfing. Happy Sunday to you both!❣️
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It was a lovely day, Cindy, to break the routine of staying home being restricted by the Covid. Wow, good to know your son loves surfing. It’s a vigorous sport. Is he living with you? Are are living by the beach? ❤
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Miriam, a glorious day out for you and hubby and aren’t we lucky to be able to tag along a bit! The ocean is majestic and I’m sure I can hear the crash of the waves along the beach. It’s always impressive with surfers out daring to ride the waves to shore. Your meals sound delicious and very English with Fish and Chips – my hubby’s favourite dish when out! I love the sculpture of Expansion Rising, beautiful and full of drama. Wishing you a beautiful and relaxing Sunday, my friend! xx
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It was a lovely day, Annika! Even though I didn’t see the tidepools but was glad to see the crashing waves. The waves here are a fun ride to the surfers, not as challenging as places such as Hawaii in the middle of the ocean.
I had Fish and Chips last month when going places with my daughter’s family. It’s one of my favorites. When I see sculptures like this, it makes me want to resume my ceramic class. But my time is limited. I’m fighting with time to do what I want to do!!
Thank you for your comment, Annika!
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I also haven’t seen the beach and ocean for a long time, Miriam. The ocean is a 7 hour, to Natal, or 14 hour, the Cape, drive for us and last year the beaches were closed due to covid. I enjoyed your pictures and I love that sculpture. I wonder if the sand was bought in to stop erosion of the beach. Can you tell I’ve been studying geography with Michael? [smile!]
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Good job studying geography with Michael, Robbie. It’s an interesting study and I found out about different layers of stones have different softness. When the softer stones are at the bottom layers of harder stones, they are easier to get chipped away by the wind or erosion. That’s why we sometimes see the mushroom like rock formation.
Our beaches were closed for 15 to 18 months. Wow, for you to go to the beaches would be like going on an international travel!
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I loved visiting this beautiful place with you!
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I enjoyed your company, Jaye! Thank you for reading and comment!
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I love being by water too, Miriam. Sounds like a beautiful day at the beach. I always head to the tide pools and enjoying the life there. Thanks for sharing your day with us.
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Yeah, Denise, now that the places are open, we want to go to the beaches more often. I’ll check the tide cycles before we go next time. But if the tide is low, I won’t see so many of the waves. So either the high tide or low tide is good. Thank you for your comment. Hope your husband is doing better! ❤
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Oh so lovely the walk at Laguna Beach…and I love the water as well thanks for sharing your creative seaside post Miriam ~ sending you joy ☺️💫hedy
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It was a short trip but lovely, Hedy. It seems that the ocean attracts me in many ways. It’s my pleasure to share it. 🙂
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tx for letting us join you ❤
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You’re welcome, da-AL. ❤
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I recently went to Laguna Lake, such a pretty place! I don’t live as close to it as you put still pretty darn close. 🙂
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That’s wonderful, Jenna. It’s a pretty place! I know some people drive there to just walk around the lake. Do you walk regularly? How close are you? 🙂
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I just found your YouTube channel Miriam and enjoyed seeing your capture of the ocean. A wonderful reflection to begin my weekend.
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Oh, good, Rebecca, that you found my YouTube channel. I post different kinds of videos there. Have a wonderful week!
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Thank you!!! Sending hugs!
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Hugs to you, Rebecca! ❤
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Thank you for inviting us along to the beach. I love the sea and lovely ozone smell. Fortunately, in the UK, we are never too far from the coast!
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You’re fortunate to be in the UK, Pete. I know it rains a lot there. Are there any rainstorms? Is the ocean pretty calm?
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The seas can range from dead calm to raging swells with huge, dangerous waves depending on location, season, and weather. We have the English Channel, The North Sea, The Irish Sea, and The Atlantic Ocean to choose from.
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It’s better than having earthquake or other disasters. We just had a 4.6 earthquake about 30 miles away last night.
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You are quite welcome to keep those to yourself!
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Haha, thank you, Peter!
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I love the virtual walk through Laguna Beach. I used to go there but haven’t been in a decade. Too crowded (but it seems not anymore) and too hard to park (again, not anymore). I may have to go back! I love the art you spotlighted. Both are beautiful.
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I know what you meant, Jacqui! We live about a 10 or 15 minutes drive from Disney. We haven’t been there for years. I wouldn’t pay to go into theme parks. The last time we went with a friend, he paid $99 for pizza for the three of us. Hubby said we could go to downtown Disney, walk around and have dinner. We may or may not.
I love those art pieces especially the sculpture. I could do a simple nightlight sculpture.
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Their prices are nuts at Disneyland. I’m much too conservative with money to pay those prices!
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I agree. I don’t waste money and I consider Disneyland is wasting money. Visiting once it’s enough. They had the family annual pass of $99 for local people, but not anymore. We don’t have to worry about debts because we don’t waste money. ☺️
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We’re the same way. And my kids have adopted that attitude too. Don’t waste. Spend carefully but what you need. All’s good.
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Good for them. You must be proud of them. My daughter Mercy is the same way. She hardly buy any new clothes for herself or the kids. They are with some college friends for 14 years. Some have kids earlier than they, so they just pass on the clothes and toys to them. It makes sense. The kids grow so fast in the first several years. They hardly wear them before they grow out of them. They had used furniture for years before buying new furniture. He is Engineer II in management, doing well, but don’t want to keep up with the Jones. All of their friends do very well and frugal. One of their friends saved up and paid $168,000 down payment when buying their home. This friend rode 8 miles on his bike to work for years (for exercise too).
I’m proud of them and their friends.
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I love those stories, and it feels good, doesn’t it, to work hard and succeed at the end? I feel like I can get through most of what life throws at me.
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It warms my heart to hear and see young people approach life with that attitude. They have fun climbing mountains, skiing, and doing all kinds of outdoor activities without spending a fortune. My 4 years old granddaughter Autumn is getting good at climbing and snowboarding.
Debby Kaye called me a warrior woman. I think I can handle most of challenge in life also.
Is your son coming home soon and go on a walking trip with you?
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October 10 if the Army doesn’t change their mind. I can’t wait!
You are a warrior woman. I love that term.
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Yay! I got your post without signing up again. Interesting observations about how things have changed at the beach. I find the value of art to be in the eye of the beholder. I’ll look at one piece of art and think, “I wouldn’t put that up in my home, even if it were free,” when the artist will be selling it for thousands of dollars. Then, there are other times when I think, “That’s all he/she is asking for this remarkable piece?”
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It’s good to hear you got my post, Pete! I still got unsubscribed to my own blog yesterday and had to resubscribe. You’re right, art is a personal taste. I may take the watercolor painting class again from OLLI this quarter. The classes started and I’ve gone to the chorale group in person for two weeks. Have a wonderful weekend.
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Gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing, Miriam.
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Thank you for stopping by, Jill. You must be busy promoting your new book. Congratulations!
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Thanks so much for sharing your photos and video, Miriam. I visited Luguna (t=and those other beachs) in 1980. It was very good to see the beach again. Life in the tiny zone where the ocean meets the shore is interesting, I hope you’re right about the timing of the tide and the pools being submerged. Have a great weekend,
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Life must be different in 1980 at Laguna, Dan. I came to LA in the summer of 1980 after my study in Seattle Pacific. I drove from Seattle to LA by myself with everything packed in the car.
I love joining the kids to watch the tiny sea creatures and love watching the tides going in and out also. Have a wonderful weekend.
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We drove down the coast from Seattle to San Diego on vacation. We visited Huntington Beach and we stayed 2 nights in Laguna – very artsy as I recall.
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It added two more hours of driving then. It’s very artsy. We would like to go to San Diego for the next getaway.
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There’s lots to see there. Nice hiking as well.
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We haven’t been there for quite a few years. I’ll look up the hiking trails.
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Looking at water is so satisfying. Thank you for sharing your day. There is a huge rain water harvested lake in out place. It is full now. We live not very far from the Arabian sea, but we have not gone to the beach for many months because of the monsoon season.
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Thank you for reading and comment, Lakshmi! It must be beautiful where you live. Looking at the water is present to the eyes and mind. I know the effect on the monsoon season. I experienced signal 10 (the highest) of typhoons in Hong Kong when I was young. It was frightening. The seawater was roaring and pounding the shore, splashing the waterfront. Take care!
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The experience of typhoon must have been frightening. Long back Tsunami happened but it was in the east coast of South India.
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I remember the Tsunami several years ago that hit Thailand when a friend just left Chiang Mai. I watched the news and it was scary.
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Wow ! So beautiful post. Beautiful & lovely photography. Nice video shoot.
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I’m glad you liked the photos and video, Rajkkhoja! It was a wonderful day trip.
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Thanks ! 👍 Friend Miriam
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You’re welcome, my friend! 😊
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I am so glad My friend.👍
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Good to have your company, Rajkkhoja! 🙂
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Miriam, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful trip to the sea. To sharing with us via
words and pictures. I have played your film several times to let it enter my mind with the feeling
only ocean can give.
Miriam
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Hi Miriam, I know exactly the sensation in the mind that only the ocean and waves can give. I took many photos and videos. Thank you for watching the video several times. I’m glad you liked it. Take care! ❤
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What a lovely post, thank you for taking us with you on your day out 💜
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You’re welcome, Willow! It was surreal to see the tides and waves again on our trips last month and a few days ago. I couldn’t take my eyes off the roaring waves. ❤
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The sea is beautiful 💜
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I love it. 💖
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Looks glorious, Miriam. Toni x
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Thank you so much for reading and comment, Toni! ❤
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The movement of sand is always ongoing. The pools will reemerge when the seas and tides permit
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Exactly, Brian. Replenishing sand to the beaches in our area is a common practice especially in tourist areas. I love seeing the tides going in and out.
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The state of California really is spectacular! Nice photographs, Miriam!
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I agree, Claire! I love the videos on your YouTube channel. Hubby’s sister and her husband took a driving trip along the coast from LA to Eureka last month. I haven’t done it for 35 years. Malibu where you live is beautiful. West coast is a perfect place to do whale watching, something I love to see close-up.
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Loved the video. I haven’t been nest there ocean for many years
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I couldn’t resist taking many videos. The waves were amazing.
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Thank you so much for sharing lovely beach pictures and that amazing video. It’s been so long since I have been to the beach, despite living in a city right next to a coastline. Though it would take about an hour or so for me to get there but because of COVID restrictions and online schooling schedules of my kid, proper planning for a beach trip is not a piece of cake for me nowadays.
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It’s my pleasure to share the beach photos with you, Hammad. Thank you for reading and comment. I’m a retired teacher and appreciate the parents taking up the responsibility of homeschooling the children. It’s not an easy task. My husband and I took our first vacation at the beach last month and a day trip on Wednesday. The Covid restriction doesn’t make it easy for us to go places. Take care!
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