Picnic at Auke Bay

The shore of Auke Bay is covered by largish rocks, tumbled and smooth, but not polished to pebbles or sand grains. The water seems too placid to erode anything anyway, with no waves lapping against the shore save for the short, tiny licks remaining from a wake. Here and there, between the rocks, sprouts a blossom of slick, yellowing seaweed. Dried barnacles speckle the rocks, and in some places, mussel shells fill the empty spaces between the rocks, like mortar. The mussels, faded by air and sunshine, are the purplish blue of old ink stains. A seal pokes his head above the water, watching a golden retriever paddle a few feet out after a stick. A dolphin arcs and blows. Fish leap like skimmed stones, wriggling their tails and flashing their white bellies.