Portrait of a Puddle

As I headed out on my walk this morning I spied a frozen puddle.

I was tempted to walk right by. Afterall, it was just a puddle. Instead I stopped, dropped and got personally acquainted.

Glad I did.

 

Betwixt

Light and shadow

Air and water

Beauty-bathed transformation

Coming Up For Air

How much did it rain? they asked.

Enough to drive earthworms up out of the dark

Out of the water-soaked earth

Better to breathe air in the light

To face the beaks of birds

Than drown in safety under ground.

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Earthworm   Lumbricus terrestris

Aftermath

A dark storm engorged with rain
Fell, full strength, upon us
Left beauty in its wake.

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Lodgepole pine   Pinus contorta

Water on Wood

Clouds split
Rain drops
Ripples pause at 1/160.

Time stops. So do I.

Ripples on deck

Ripples on deck

Ripples on deck

 

Blimey, Look at All the Barnacles

They live in the intertidal zone, that narrow strand between high and low tides.

If you’ve ever rubbed up against them you won’t have forgotten. They’ll peel the skin right off you. A swimmer’s nightmare. A painful jolt to a hiker who stumbles into them.

Cousins to crabs and lobsters barnacles are curious creatures.

Free-living in the ocean at birth, little barnies attach themselves to rocks and logs and crab shells. Cement themselves to the surface and never move again.

They thrive underwater. Their legs, morphed into frilly appendages, sweep the water for food, drawing particles down into the opening of their self-made home.

Plates — kind of like folding doors — surround the opening. When the tide goes out they clamp shut to keep out predators and protect the barnacle from drying out.

Acorn barnacles are common on the shore I visited. Not sure why the word acorn was chosen. Someone must know.

Thatched barnacles — a type of acorn barnacle — have vertical ribs like skinny fingers on the walls of their homes. Sort of like thatching on a cottage.

Check out the photos. You’ll see the difference.

Thatched barnacles

Acorn barnacle

Acorn and thatched barnacles and limpet

Acorn and thatched barnacles

Acorn barnacle

Thatched barnacle and limpet

 

 

Sea Foam

Swept by wind, waves roll onto the beach, washing over kelp and dulse and barnacled rocks.

A necklace of bubbles and foam strung along the shore.