I am trying to jump into the Outdoor challenges it is a bit like trying to enter double Dutch, as we are outside quite a bit – have downloaded the Anna Comstock books, have been following it a bit – but have not been extremely directional intentional.

We have a lack of opportunity to really observe the stars, save for the wee wee wee early hours, like around 4 a.m. ish.  I stand by the window and look up at them on the way to get a drink of water. 🙂

Yesterday, however, our entire family had a great chance to observe the pull of the full moon on the tides.  We are avid beach walkers and observers.  On the north side of our town is a set of rocks, pretty to watch the ocean crash over.  On one occasion we were able to walk out and view a few tide pools, cautious of the intermittent sneaker waves. Other than that, the low tide seems to crest right before the rocks.

Last evening the low tide was far beyond the rocks, maybe 150-200 feet farther west. I didn’t realize this while taking my walk, as I was walking along the sea wall, but walking back I had gone along the shore and found myself WAY out.  I ran back to my car and speed home, and picked up the boys to come see. (walking by myself with the dog).

We spent a beautiful evening in the tide pools, observing the distance from the sea wall, the distance to the west, and then in a break of clouds, we were given the opportunity to see the almost full moon.  What a wonderful moment to talk about the full moon and the pull of the tides while experiencing it! 

I am not sure if I would have pointed it out without having this challenge in the back of my mind – and at that, I was focused more on stars than moon.

Today, we will sketch out the tides, chat up some more, read a bit out of our Seaside Naturalist book, and look forward to observing the full moon this evening. Thanks for the challenge!

A few pics for ya - 

Usually, the low tide is about where the people are standing looking for agates, but only on extreme low tides.

I started to realize how far out I had walked, I was praying, listening to music, playing with the dog, and didn’t quite have my scientific hat on.
 

When I came up to these rocks – ON THE OTHER SIDE of them. 

The floura and creatures growing out here is a whole other blog post.  I tried taking a few shots with the cell phone camera, but in my excitement, they were mostly blurred.

The mirror image in the gloss of the water from the waves was beautiful. Reminding me of His Glory.

The starfish are BRIGHT and LARGE this far out.

 
We also found a gem of a glass ball from the Finder’s Keeper’s of Lincoln City.

We’ll try to get better shots tonight of the full moon, and share any tid bits of what we’ve learned today.