guard stand

What brought me to the beach was the king tide. What kept me here was the fading sunset.

The king tides occur at the new and full moon when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned at perigee and perihelion or, for the non-astronimy types, when the moon is the furthest from the earth and the sun is the closest to the earth. This planetary tug of war creates a wonderful effect on the ocean’s tides recording the lowest and highest tides around January 3 every year. For a beach walker like myself, it exposes tidal flats that in normal conditions are deep underwater most of the year and just one more reason to head out the door with a camera.

This year a series of calm days are combined with crisp cool evenings leaving even the most jaded beachgoer in awe.

The tide kept me at the beach well past dark, most of the day actually, but the sunset and the surrounding structures allowed for child’s play with a camera.