Tidepools

Yesterday I had the wonderful experience of wandering around a tide pool at low tide.  I haven't done that in ages and it reminded me how much I miss the ocean.  Normally on my trips to LA I take walks along the shore with my feet in the water and I take a swim if the water is warm enough.  But this was different.  I was further north along the coast, where the shore is narrow and rocky.

This time I got to see starfish, sea anemones, a hermit crab, various birds, and what was probably a sea lion (it was too far away to see whether it had external ears or not).  If you look closely at the photo above, the orange starfish is eating a mussel very slowly.

We were a bit mean and bothered this sea anemone enough to make it close up to protect itself.

I love the shell camouflage!

We wandered around the pools, trying hard not to step on any living thing, and after we had our fill, we swam in the ocean.  It was cold, but we had a good time, catching a few waves while we adjusted to the water temperature. Probably the last swim of the season, but very fun!

Changing the subject, throughout the month of November, I will be ending my blog posts with two tidbits of information from my new novel.  I'll give you all a plot point and the previous day's word count.  Although I need to write at least 1667 words per day on average in order to "win" nano, I am aiming for 3,000 words per day so that I finish with a 90,000 word novel, more a normal length.  There are many days that I won't make it.

Nano Update, Day 1:
Plot?  The main character has just lost his job.
Word Count? 1697