Estuary

Today we drove out to a little island just offshore to play in the muddy tidal plains. It was unusually foggy, which made it feel like we were descending upon it from out of the clouds. You could barely make out the figures of other families wandering around on the plain. I love how fog absorbs sound in the neat way that it does, and that sensation is compounded when you have your bare feet stuck in living mud.

The kids, of course, had the best time. Our one year old was totally absorbed in playing with the mud and sand and shells. He is fearless. He just picks up crabs without hesitating, and he always pretends to kiss little bugs and animals when he sees them out in the wild. Our five year old was a little more wary walking out in the mud. Like I said, it is very much living mud. There are snails and crabs...everywhere. But we had a good time checking out all the neat shells and rocks. We even found a couple great conch shells to use for making night lights.

Being out there today made me feel homesick. I've lived here long enough that I don't get homesick in the way I used to when I was younger; when being away from home was a strange thing to do. Today it felt like being out on one of the many BIG beaches in Northern California--cool, wet, and foggy. I suppose that pandemic factors into that; just generally yearning for a greater variety of days and environments to explore.

It felt nice to be out of our habitat a bit, especially out there on the estuary where so much comes together.

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