Where is your thotful spot, that place where you go to find your own thoughts? Winnie the Pooh's thotful spot was in the 100 Aker Wood. Mine is at the beach.
When I've had a stressful few days, I book time with myself to spend an hour at the beach. We have 4 Puget Sound beaches within 5 to 15 minutes, by car, from my home. In summer, I walk down the hill to the long stretch of Sound beach closest to our home. My kids like the activity of the busy downtown Edmonds beach, with ferries, scuba divers and harbor seals to watch. I prefer the mostly quiet, but beautifully designed Mukilteo beach, a 12-15 minute drive from my home.
Yesterday morning, I needed some time with my thoughts. I brought my camera along, so that I could show you a bit of where I live.
For a little geography, the Puget Sound is the large body of water that connects the Seattle area to the Pacific Ocean. Going west, there's us, the Puget Sound (filled with islands), the Olympic Peninsula, and then the Pacific Ocean.
Yesterday, I went to my favorite beach, Mukilteo beach. There's quite a lot to see at this beach. There's the lighthouse. It's open for tours many month of the year. Lighthouse keeping is an interesting subject. I like to think of the families, who lived here, quite isolated from much of the population. They were a self-sufficient lot, going months between deliveries of goods, and a bit of the big city news.
The ferry terminal is just to the north of the public beach. In the Seattle area, the ferries are just an extension of the highway system, criss-crossing the Sound to islands and the Olympic Peninsula. This past summer, my kids and I took a ferry over to the Peninsula to the Scandinavian town of Poulsbo. In November, the whole family took a different ferry to San Juan Island, to roam the waterfront town of Friday Harbor. Yesterday, I just sat and watched the ferries come and go from Whidbey Island, the island just across the Sound from us.
I always enjoy my encounters with the wildlife here. The gulls hung around for handouts from my snack.
A blue heron languished by the edge of the water. And I had a friendly chat with a harbor seal.
He was quite close to the shoreline, and apparently very interested in my presence. I was the only human on the beach, and he seemed to want someone to play with. He barked at me for several minutes before diving back down. Only to pop back up a few feet away.
There's a very long stretch of this beach, perfect for "thotful" walking.
I looked for sea glass, beautiful rocks, and the perfect shell as I tread over the coarse sand.
In a rocky area,
I searched for crabs, one occasionally washing out of his hiding place with the incoming waves.
There are several man-made features here.
And a wedding circle, very busy on summer afternoons. Yesterday, it was just me, on a bench, enjoying the view.
Spending time at the beach doesn't solve any of my problems or worries. But I always come away relaxed and ready to handle whatever crisis may come next.
