Beach Color

Ordinarily the beach is not a colorful place. Its beauty is subtle, not obvious. Although I remember well the first winter I spent in Galveston and the neon green and pink flip-flops that regularly appeared on the beach. Attached to them were little bi-valves that had absorbed the colors of the flip-flops. I’ve never seen them since and I’ve grown accustomed to the muted tans and grays in their various hues.

Setting out on a beach walk this afternoon I certainly wasn’t expecting to see an abstract painting of an exotic red fish.

It seemed to be red paper, washed and reformed by the motion of the Gulf waters.

Farther on I came upon a natural, not man-made, sand painting of green dots in the wet sand, finished with a sprinkle of dry sand.

This phenomenon continued and I discovered an intaglio of a tree swaying in the wind.

The colorful afternoon ended with a green and tan composition with generous touches of white and sparing touches of orange. Returning to the house I saw again, to my delight, a group of white ibis grazing in the vacant lot. This time I got a good shot of the long curved bill that enables the bird to plunge its beak deep to feed on creatures that live in sand and soil – worms, insects and amphibians.

Color is an important part of Nature’s beauty. Deer and many other creatures cannot see color, but humans can and I’m thankful for that ability.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer