Dangers at the Beach

I love the beach.. everyone who has read here knows that... every once in awhile I get a little reminder that I need to be aware and be careful when I am at the beach.. and today was one of them. In the past I have bonked my head on low branches... even made it bled one time... I get so busy climbing over logs and looking for treasures that I have to pay attention and watch for low branches... since the last head injury I have been very careful. I also have to be careful because the logs and the rocks are slippery. I have not fallen yet *knock on wood* but I am sure my day is coming.... often I am sure if anyone could see me they would be thinking I was a drunk. I am not sure if it would be different if my shoulder did not hurt... possibly then I would be a bit more secure but at this time if I start to fall I will landing on my face or backside as no way I would be able to use the arm to stop myself. Also I have learned that animals live down there... I knew that birds and clams and crabs and what not.. but I had never thought about animals like raccoons or sea otters or snakes.. or any other animals living that close to the waters edge. Almost found myself in an animal den last summer before it dawned on me that something else was in there.....that the cool hole was a door. Slow and steady and carefully I enjoy many hours on the beach.

Today it is windy and stormy and raining a bunch. I had planned on heading to the beach first thing this morning.. but then it started just dumping, so I waited until it was only raining hard and the wind was only blowing a bit and I headed down. It has warmed up so it was not too bad down there.. I headed down the beach... saw a new landslide.. just a small one.. some mud came down the hill and a tree is laying over onto the beach a bit. Not a huge deal... as it was just the start of the high bank area...a bit further down there is a big tree that fell a little over a year ago, most days that is the turning around point... but today I climbed over it... I stayed pretty close to the low tide line... just because the bank starts to get unstable here... and only a little further is a big slide from last year... a dozen trees and lots of mud slid down the bank.... now it has been thinned out over the year and you can climb through the trees ( at low tide ) I was peeking through and thought I could see a couple more new slides so I decided to go for it and climb through the trees... it is not hard at all.. you just go under one and then up the bank a little bit and across another huge flat one ( easy walking on it ) On the other side I do see a new slide so I head down the beach to it... looking for sea glass and listening.. listening for mud falling.. trees cracking.. anything that might not be safe or normal... first I had the beejees scared out of me when I bird comes flying out of the bushes almost taking my head off.. then I see a perfect piece of green glass.. I am reaching in for it.. and I hear something, almost feel it... a big thud.. so I look up and step back and then take a lot more steps back as a big chunk of the bank comes down and makes a big muddy splat right on top of that green glass..it was a huge feeling... almost more than a sound that the slide made... but looks like a huge dinosaur just walked up and pooped on it.. no way I am getting it now. Then it dawns on me that even though it would not have been life threatening if that mud had fallen on me... I was still in a bad situation and was not being smart or careful.. I was very lucky that was not a bigger slide and that the tree just hanging there had not fallen. I decided it was time to march myself to the low tide and get home.. or least to low bank beach.

Big Slide I climb through

Big Tree at top of Slide that is just waiting to come down


The Green Sea Glass I wanted is under that pile of mud

~Michelle