Bubble clusters float aimlessly on the surface, eddying in small circles. When the individual members of the tight knit community burst periodically, the surrounding bubbles recoil momentarily before coming together to fill in the space their old friend once occupied. This tide pool is slightly higher than the rest, and is disturbed by the waves of the ocean with less frequency. The rhythm of the water is slow here, but in the half hour that has passed since I first arrived at this space the rising tide increasingly threatens the pool’s tranquillity.
Beneath the surface the crab’s scavenge the rocks, thrusting forward in bursts of discreet length that, at first glance, seem more like the modeling of a computer than the movements of a living animal in God’s reality. Crabs crawl over rock crevices filled with partially crushed shells stuck to spongy sea anemone, and claw their way up the fronds of the sea plants growing in the pool. The movements of the plants fronds follow the movement of the bubble colonies, swaying together in the pool’s water. A small black fish pokes out of the shadow of one of the deep red sea plants. The fish lies close to the rock, with a slowness that could either communicate deep calm or high anxiety. Matte white, sandy lavender, and rust orange splotches of moss adorn the rocks, and the light of the setting sun reflects off the surface of the pool, painting my body in a shimmering golden haze.
A large wave is rolling towards us. The height of the wave decreases as it approaches, but the momentum carries water over the rocks guarding this little sanctuary, and sends ripples through the pool. The water inches closer to the spot where my shoes are resting. Bubbles from the pool are pushed through a small inland tributary, migrating to a higher pool, while new ocean bubbles come in the replace the old. The tempo of the place slowly increases as the temperature of the air decreases. The crabs continue in their persistent and robotic quest, and while the seaweeds and bubbles seem to float with the water, the crabs and the moss and the rocks and the star fish stay anchored. There is and abundance of stillness and movement.
On the rocks that are still above the surface of the water, these beings exist in a different form. The plants are dark and flat. The moss all appears black or else bright white and pink. Only the sea anemonies with their crushed shell coatings seem to maintain their moisture in the dryness.