Begin Civil Twilight

Short days. Already the days are 28 minutes shorter here than they are in Santa Fe. The U.S. Naval Observatory time server says

Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Port Angeles, Clallam County, Washington (longitude W123.4, latitude N48.1):
Sunday
21 October 2007 Pacific Daylight Time
SUN
Begin civil twilight 7:10 a.m.
Sunrise 7:42 a.m.

Wednesday I went to Rialto Beach (a different day)(map), to watch the tide come in. There was a storm coming, the waves seemed to be big. Was I really seeing swells running ahead of the storm, or just a normal 8 foot tide? Maybe I'll know after many more visits. Rain showers passed. Then it cleared just there, and the sun shone overhead, clouds all around. You couldn't go down on the beach because the water was just heaping in, so I stood at the crest of the logjam which backs the beach and watched it come in and come in, and wash around the logs on the outer edge, and shift and move the logs. People would arrive at the end of the path, and hop around on the logs, and have to dodge back as a wave foamed over, and stare and stare.

Finally the tide turned, and the waves didn't come as high any more. It was perfect, being there, and hard to leave. But I haven't made up my mind yet to drive back though the Park in the dark. That will come, as the days get shorter.

And then: it was perfect. Why write about it?

My friend M. is a tidepooler, she keeps track of when the minus tides are, so she can go look at the critters. Scarcely wants to plan a hike unless it will be low tide when we get there. Me, I like the high tides. It's the ocean, not the shore, that speaks to me. That's why I moved 1400 miles.