WIND ON THE SHORELINE!
Storm Noel blew into Phippsburg last weekend, leaving these waves once the rain ceased. I hiked over to the campground to check things out under clear skies and sparkling sunlit waters. The waves were humongous.....especially out on Joe's Head where you could get sprayed by crashing waves if you weren't careful. I picked my way along the coast tantalized by this oval kite blowing in the wind. Below, the strings were attached to a daring young man out to brave the wind and waves for what is called Kite Boarding! He was trying to get out beyond the breaking surf, but failed in the attempt. I had never seen this activity and marveled at his efforts, certainly not one seen here before in my memory. Here is a close up of this dare devil.....the strings attach to the kite overhead. In one hand is a controlling line and in the other the blue board he wants to mount.

In the picture to the left, you will notice the beautiful red foliage of the Huckleberry shrubs. These patches provide a nice accent against the blues of sky and sea. Those leaves will be dropping and blowing free quite soon.

Actually, storm Noel did not do a lot of damage in this area. I saw one tree down on the road to West Point, but again, I did not go down every road in town! Power outages here were minimal and not lasting. I did draw buckets of water to be on the safe side. These storms do change the face of the beaches. I was amazed to notice that those rocks that are usually exposed as you approach Head Beach from the Kelp Shed were almost entirely covered by sand. Sometimes, you have to climb over those rocks to hike to the west end of the beach. Imagine if you were a Surf Clam - trying to stay submerged in that tumbling, moving surf and sand. There are limits what that powerful foot can do, but there were no clams thrown up on the beach. If there were, the gulls would take care of them and ingest them in due time.

On another day, we had an outing to celebrate a birthday. These kids are all 6 years old. The first stop was to learn about sea creatures. I had been lucky enough to collect some Sea Stars and other animals to share (Yes, in November!). Here, each boy has a Sea Star while we are on our way to putting them back in the ocean. You may recognize the decorated beach driftwood that we've all climbed upon at one time or another.

Our outing continued over to the Lily Pond since the birthday boy's prime interest is frogs! The pond wasn't frozen over, and we used our nets to try and find.....well, at least a tadpole? No such luck. However, I had set a minnow trap out on a line to see what we might catch. When we pulled it in, it was loaded with wiggling fish! We observed them for a while and then let them go too.

We finished the celebration by playing baseball using a lobster buoy for a bat and a spongy float for a ball! Then, we worked together to make a sand birthday cake on Sanddune Beach. We used razor clam shells for candles.......it was too windy for regular candles. On our way back, we climbed on the anchor......something else most of you have done at one time or another.....but on your birthday? What a fun way to celebrate!

11/11/07 Chilly and well blown Ronnie.