Went and stood out by the ocean today…

Bob Creek Wayside, Looking South from the Rocks

Bob Creek Wayside. It’s a pull-off between Yachats and 10-Mile, with long, flat rocky formations that finger into the ocean from the cobblestone beach. Those pitted rocks are likely hardened lava flow, complete with the perfect nooks and crannies for all kinds of tidepools that emerge at low tide, and when the sand is lower in the summer.

20 years ago, I climbed the rocks on the right side of the bay that venture out into the ocean a bit higher than the tidepool rocks, and sat grinning for the half-hour that the huge sea otters played. They were about the size of my outstretched arms in length, and they just noodled around the water, smooth as anything, and then lazed a bit on their backs with a stone on their chest. Such calm joy, and ease in the world.

Today, gulls playing and bathing at the foot of the creek and perched on one of the further rocks, surrounded by the rising tide. And a large, dark, stately blue heron oddly cruising over the waters as if it were some lost pelican. One other time I played slow and stealthy peek-a-boo with a blue heron in those tidepool formations. Maybe he was hunting crabs—they love to lurk behind rock ledges and nibble at algae lettuce. I was just soaking in the sights. We came eye to eye, and then he moved on, yellow legs and dusky elegance, eyes on the water.