Thank you, May I have another?

‘Tis the last gasp of May, and that means it’s abstract time! You’ve been bouncing up and down in your seat the entire month, haven’t you?

I am finally recognizing that making difficult decisions can induce a lot of stress, which is not good for your health and even less so for mine, so I decided not to decide (wait a second) which image from the beach trip was going to win the coveted position, and I’m simply putting them both up. If you want to shorten your life over the whole matter, you can decide on your own which is best. I’m not going to read any comments regarding this post, because that would be stressful too. Right now I’m even making someone else type this…

scattered tidal deposits
For the first, we have this little tableau found on the beach one morning as the tide receded. The little bit of greenery is what makes it, I think, but I’ll also point out the countless holes from small mollusks that were carried in by the tide and deposited, which then buried themselves quickly to escape the wading birds – you can occasionally see this happen as the water thins down to the last few millimeters, if you’re sharp-eyed.

sanderling Calidris alba foraging on flood plain
And the second comes from a small ‘pool’ in the marshes almost directly alongside the gazebo of the condo complex, which at low tide becomes an exposed mud flat. When the water level was ideal, sanderlings (Calidris alba) would often be found foraging in the shallows, mostly for small crabs I suspect, since the surrounding marsh grasses probably prevented much else from getting in there. From last year’s experience, I skipped wandering out there to see what could be found, since there was a high likelihood that I’d bury myself to mid-calf, at least, in the muck of the marsh. Yeah, I know I make a big deal out of the lengths I’ll go to for a shot, but I’d like to keep my sandals, plus oysters are incredibly sharp little bastards. Although I’ll make that extreme sacrifice if someone wants to fund the efforts…