Shifting Sand

It’s been sneaking up on me for weeks, this suspicion that the beach is changing. For months I walked here and came to know the rocks - where I might find starfish, where there were sneaky puddles even at low tide, where the pools of colorful anemones were. And it is changing now, the sand filling in some of the low spots, changing the contours of the beach. Many of the tide pools that were clear and full of sea life are now getting filled with sand. I wonder how many days until the anemones in this picture are totally buried.

This change hasn’t happened suddenly, but I only noticed it lately when the changes became impossible to attribute to an extra-high tide or something else. I will have to continue to explore and discover what gifts this evolving beach offers.

This morning I remembered a picture I took of a starfish, barely hanging on to the rock by one arm. And I thought how lucky starfish are compared to anemones. When the sand gets too high, they can let go, and float on the tide until they find a new home that is more hospitable. Anemones are stuck. (Disclaimer - I am not a marine biologist and so it this is incorrect let me know).

How are we facing the changing landscapes, the shifting sands of our lives? Are we rooted in place, unable to move? Or are we able to let go, to let the tide take us for a while until we find a new place where we can grow and thrive?