Wondrous waves

Humboldt County has beaches that are more scenic in terms of cliffs and rock formations, but none match Big Lagoon for the most enormous and most fascinating waves! Here are three pictures I took this afternoon. The tide was supposedly receding.

 

Pier Park at dawn

I had a wonderful (if very cold) walk at Pier Park yesterday morning
and took zillions of pix.

I haven't been able to post pix because I used up my quota on Picasa Web.

The pictures were taken before dawn, just at dawn, and just after dawn. They will enlarge slightly if you click on them.

The water is wide

I went to Clam Beach this afternoon, during a low tide which followed a very high tide. The beach was wet nearly to the dunes, smooth and shiny. Large shells were plunked here and there, forming their own little tide pools. Shells like the one below are rarely found at Clam Beach -- I'm more likely to see them at a beach to the south. 

Foam

We had "high surf" on the north coast yesterday and people were advised to stay off the beach. When I went to Clam Beach this afternoon, I found the foamy residue of the huge swells.

Back light black white

The pictures I took when I turned back into the sun look almost black and white.

Lovers

This couple is surely lucky in love -- to walk hand-in-hand on a glorious beach on a glorious day, as a flock of small white birds soars across the sand. (Yes, I deepened the shadows a lot on this one, for drama.)

Silk Creek Review Editor, Scott Carter, Down at the Creek

Silk Creek Review Editor, Scott Carter, Down at the Creek, Water Color painting by Mary Stebbins Taitt. (Click image to view larger.)

An afternoon at Big Lagoon

Because my pictures appear in reverse order -- last post first, which I forgot about -- I just wanted to explain that they were taken Jan. 3 at Big Lagoon, north of where I live in Calif. I went there to go agate hunting, picture taking, and mainly to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Leaflady

Beach objects

 

Sunset at Big Lagoon

 

Reflections

Even tho I spent most of my time on the beach, I was entranced by the reflections in the inlet in the late afternoon sun.

California agates

It struck me that you may not know what an agate is in California -- I certainly didn't until my daughter moved here. It's a clear stone that's been polished by the waves and is usually marked by swirls of what I call "white paint." This picture shows my own collection, found since I moved here two years ago. I have yet to find anything very large, but you can get an idea what they look like and how beautiful they are.

 

For those desiring a more scientific explanation, I copied the paragraph below from an article in a local weekly a couple years ago:

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/issues/2007/09/20/how-did-our-agates-form/

 

"Wave-polished translucent agates ... are found .... by eager collectors who brave the hazards of being swept out to sea by rogue waves. Agates consist of microscopically crystallized silica (silicon dioxide), called "chalcedony." They often show growth bands. They originate in the hellish conditions of volcanic eruptions, followed by millenia of gentle soaking in warm groundwaters. These "geothermal" waters slowly precipitated the chalcedony in cavities produced by volcanic steam."

Big Lagoon

Between holiday activities and rainy weather, I hadn't been to the beach in about two weeks. But there was a convergence of great weather and free time yesterday afternoon so went to Big Lagoon (20 miles north of my home in McKinleyville, CA) to walk on the beach and do some agate hunting.