Moss Landing State Beach, California

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

What do I like about Moss Landing State Beach? 1) It's close to home (25 minutes), 2) it's free, 3) the dunes are protected, 4) there are lots of animals, 4) it's mostly clean, and 5) you can walk in the sand for a few miles from the jetty to the mouth of the Pajaro River and turn around to do it again for another few miles. The weather here is usually good, but even if it isn't, the beach is still great. Also, the tiny town of Moss Landing has more than a few good places to eat, so if you get hungry, they gotcha covered. All that said, I'd prefer that you only visit once a year and leave the place to the locals the rest of the time!

Yesterday was windy and cold, but that's what layers are for. I suited up and walked my walk as the tide receded, leaving all kinds of cool stuff behind. I saw several places where curlews had been hunting for sand crabs, poking their long, curved beaks into the wet sand and hopping around the hole in a hurry to snag their prey before the waves might come in to interrupt the hunt. Their footprints and the hole told the story. I think this one must have been a success because it had not been washed away yet. 

About halfway toward the Pajaro River I passed a group of folks with their kids and dogs having fun in the surf. I asked what appeared to be grandparents standing back in the dry sand watching the scene if it was okay to take the kids' picture and they said okay. This is pure California. It makes me happy to see it. I can imagine this scene happening a thousand years ago - with different kids and different grownups and different dogs and different clothes, but with the same grins and giggles.

I didn't see many pelicans, gulls, vultures, or sea mammals, which was unusual, but I did see a lot of curlews, snowy plovers, intact shells, and sand dollars plus a ton of polished pebbles. I had a small towel in my daypack so just for fun I made a little display of some of the jewels I found. I appreciate the work that many artists and craftspeople put into their creations, but what I really like is straight-up Mother Nature. Each one of these things represent changes over time - cycles and and processes that never end - impermanent beauty frozen in this moment - destined to morph into something else. I love it.

Peace and Love from the Beach,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022 *

* My friend Jessica (Happy Birthday, Jessica!) made me think about this 2,022 hiking goal of mine. To clarify, the miles I am recording are only miles I walk toward this specific goal of hiking 2,022 miles this calendar year. I don't keep track of my total daily steps, but Jessica started doing that and she discovered that she was walking about three times as many miles every day as her normal daily 3-mile fast morning walk. So that 10,000-step thing that many people subscribe to really adds up and that  has to be great for your health. However you choose to do it, I hope you walk or hike or bike or run, etc. for your mental and physical health every day. You don't have to keep a running total if you don't want to, but it can add to the fun and keep you committed to daily exercise and the act of paying attention, which for me is the whole point.