Lmst

Long dune–shore–wrackline walk today. I can report that there are enough mysteries in each to last a few lifetimes of walking (trotting, swimming, gliding etc).

#pointTurnstone #walking

The July installment of 'Polylith' (my monthly newsletter) is here, in which we consider the image of an empty eggshell floating in shallow water.

#towardThePolylith #pointTurnstone #hesiod #chaos

https://cscottmills.com/polylith/052/

Tern skull found at the end of a long day working at the point. Long light draws down again.

#pointTurnstone

In the sand among the pebbles and bits of driftwood sits the ivory white skull of a Caspian tern. To the left, we see the depression where it was until a moment ago half buried. Evening sun draws a long shadow from the skull.

Four more plover eggs hatch at the point. The adult carries each of the shells from the nest, and drops one in the calm water where it bobs offshore like a delicate vessel. Four more little creatures dry in the sun.

#pointTurnstone #pipingPlover

We’re standing at shore looking out at calm, clear water. A few strides out, a tiny speckled blue-green eggshell floats.

Happy Solstice to you all. Long light here on the island today — indigo bunting called the sun up early from a birch over my head.

#pointTurnstone #summerSolstice

Sunday morning at the point: big wind from the north, breakers, rain. Nineteen newly-hatched plovers warm under the adults out on the open cobble. A bunch more soon.

#pointTurnstone

Lilacs on the island bloom two weeks after the mainland, so May redux in June. Don’t mind.

#pointTurnstone #flowerReport

Lilacs in full bloom, the ones that are halfway between pink and purple. They’re close enough to smell, and they smell like lilac. The sky is clear but hazy, a dune and a few cedars rise behind the blooms.

Still smoky here. A cruise ship passes the point — I can’t rule out something interstellar. Who sees it but me? Pin cherry at peak bloom.

#pointTurnstone #flowerReport

Pin cherry blossoms up close look fresh and bright. The petals are soft and clustered tightly together, the anthers reaching in all directions, tickling the fingertips.

Thin fog moves in to circle the island. Or is it smoke? A sudden wind raises whitecaps on the passage and the mainland slips in and out of visibility.

#pointTurnstone

We’re standing on a dune looking over a landscape of low dunes and wind-stunted birches. Underfoot there are springy juniper roots and fine sand. To the left we can just see the water, raised to whitecaps by a rising wind.

Potentilla, merganser, morning work. Reminds me to stretch the spine out for the day.

#pointTurnstone

The skull and spine of a long-dead merganser rests in the sand in early morning sunlight. From the open bill grows a a small plant with toothy compound leaves.

First evening of the week at the point is quiet, nearly still. Waiting for a pair of plovers to change places on the nest while smoke rises from a smoldering pine plantation on the mainland. Cottonwoods leaf out slowly.

#pointTurnstone

A cluster of cottonwood leaves unfurls from the bud. They’re shiny and fresh, tinted with rust, soft and resinous against the fingers. Beyond the sky is clear blue. Sun presses down from behind the camera.

The first piping plover nest of the season at Point Turnstone: two perfect eggs right at home in an expanse of cobble. Many more to follow.

#pointTurnstone

Two impeccably camouflaged eggs sit in a shallow dish scraped into the sand. They’re surrounded by smooth stones of the same shape and color. In the background, little waves lap at the shore.

First full day at the point. Harrowing boat ride into nauseating six foot waves. Then the beach and the dunes, camp, calm. Sun and birds. Here again.

#pointTurnstone

#pointTurnstone

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