Rain in August

Yay! Hooray! A rainy day!
Rain at the beach and everyone has stayed away!
Hooray, hooray!

Most summers, mid-August brings a few days of rain to the beach. Maybe it's the tail end of a hurricane far out to sea, or tatters of storms wandering east from the Great Plains.

Not to be inhospitable , but by August I sometimes feel like I am running a resort...without pay!
And so I treasure that break in the sunshine, just a few days, of rain and grey.
I deserve a vacation too, don't I?
The beach was, again, mine, all mine.

The waterfront itself was inaccessible. I waded through flooded areas thigh deep to get this far.

 

This is an erosion cut, quite extreme. In a few weeks we may find old bottles or sea glass dug up by the waves...


looking west



looking east



Here is how the same views normally look! {below]

 

looking west



looking east



And look! the swales are finally full! (a swale is a seasonal pond that forms in upper dune areas, caused by heavy rain &/ or high tides. The water can  remain for months, drawing birds and wild creatures, or it can disappear immedialtely. The water here is usually less than 8" deep.)

This summer has been so dry and hot, no blackbirds nesting by the dunes ponds, no spadefoot toads, no pippits, no dune rabbits. Just too dry.

Perhaps now Ratty, our washashore muskrat will return...?  His den was in that smaller dark spot on the upper left, to the right of the white line of sand.

He has not been seen since he danced under the full moon in April. I miss him, but fear he moved across the island to the wetter side and now lives at the golf course.

Hope you are all feeling fine and have the weather you enjoy, be it rain or sun. Have a lovely week!

love

lizzy

....gone to the beach

PS for those of you who asked if my beach ever has people on it, below is a pix of a hot Saturday afternoon in August. After the flag far right is a town beach so more people are there....This is as crowded as it gets! Shhhh....



Saturday, Aug  13, 2011, 3 PM