New collage box

I recently finished a hand-made-from-scratch box which was a birthday gift for a friend who runs marathons.

Personally, I cannot imagine what physical discpline it takes to finish a grueling 26.2 mile race. Anyone who does this is a model of endurance.

So it's no surprise the medals given to those who make it across the finish line are huge.

I give you, Jen's Marathon Bling Box.







Happy Birthday to an amazing hero!

Elephant Seal Sumo Wrestling

I could not resist posting this series of photographs I took on California's Central Coast a few weeks ago.  These are huge Elephant Seals doing battle in the waves for Survival of the Fittest.

I think their version of sumo wrestling is amazing to watch.

Meanwhile on shore, one of the regal and enormous males leans back his head and roars . . .

On land this creatures seem ungainly, but truly they look so powerful and wild.

If you want to know more about these fascinating marine mammals, check out the website of Friends of the Elephant Seal.  This organization has created the viewing area on the coast where I took these photographs.

Quork!

This is a recent photograph of two ravens at  Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to whet your appetite.

I've been slow to post lately because I was traveling in California earlier this month. While I was away, I photographed crows and ravens as part of a personal quest I'm undertaking. I've made it my mission to study my finely black-feathered friends as part of a project that is part artistic and part scholarly.

You will see some of the fruits of my project here on Pull of the Tides in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I am in the final stages of a draft article on a topic that is proving to be far more interesting than I could possibly have imagined when I began researching it: mudlarking.

If you are wondering what the heck this is, or are curious just what I'm going on about, check out this well-illustrated New York Times article.

More very soon,
~runningwave~