Vignette April 18

M vignette 18 April

Bedrock swirls crazily in the cliffs along the beach, pitching this way and that, both white and brown. At low tide, thick sheets of rock are exposed with tide pools between them. some of these rocks are drilled with even round holes, some pencil-sized, some big enough to admit a finger. some contain shells, and in fact the holes are being made by these mussels, who excavate their own shelter in rock.  Once the mussel is gone, pebbles fill them: red, orange, brown, white and blue. some are like crystal, some like shell.

The sea is green offshore today, although if you look far enough it goes blue, and then, just before the horizon, an even deeper blue. along the coast to the right, to the north, is the land of Vandenberg Air Force Base, lush green hills today sloping down to the final cliffs that back the beach. It looks as though you could drop a ball at the top and it would roll down and shoot out over the sea, launched like from a ski jump.

The sky has been clear from dawn, except for the bank of fog out at sea, which had not moved since we arrived 18 hours ago. the wind died during the night, and began the morning as a steady breeze from the land. later it swings to the north but remains a mere wind rather than a gale. In the campground they have a starred and striped wind indicator, and it is standing out straight all day. The waves roll in steadily.