purty slimy ocean things!

Yesterday I went to the beach at Lincoln Park with Her Nibs and the Wendling at what's supposed to be one of the two lowest tides of the year, and we saw sea stars, a sea pen (those are subtidal -- we weren't supposed to see that, so call the Men in Black), live crabs, sea anemones, sea urchins (?), sea squirts, kelp and umpteen other species of seaweed, clams squirting away under the sand, and oh yeah the nifty forest on the bluff above the beach. The sea pen looked like a tiny, bright orange human brain on a thick stem; even the park naturalist had to take it to an expert to identify it. Back when I was a kid in Florida, I used to read about the tide pools on the west coast and I was disappointed that we didn't have anything like that on our beaches. It may have taken twenty-five years or so, but I finally saw the real thing.

Poop that the Wendling slipped on the rocks at one point and cut his palm on some barnacles. It didn't seem to bother him until we got home, though.

Mental note: post digipic of orange and purple sea stars, or maybe the Wendling flinging rocks and kelp into the ocean (left handed, sidearm), or maybe the Wendling looking extra cute in his sunglasses with the lenses that open.