Beach comparison

(Santa Monica sunset, below)
While I can now say I live closer to the water and see it with far greater frequency than I did when my family lived in southern California, I cannot say I don't miss those coastal beaches. The only problem of CA beaches was getting out to them.

The way the horizon stretches beyond measure is so inspiring.

(Santa Monica on Thanksgiving Day, below)

Nothing in Seattle could begin to compare to the sheer beauty of a CA beach. Even on our best days here, when the weather is cooperating, it still lacks the expanse of an CA beach, the sense of excess, overwhelming otherness. It's all about coastal vs. non-coastal.

(Piedras Blancas, below)

Here is a northern California coastal beach that we hit on our move from southern California to Washington State. We were astonished to find that it was the home of thousands of elephant seals, lining the beach.

(Alki Beach in Seattle, below)

The Puget Sound beaches are warmly, welcoming-ly beautiful, on a scale that feels familiar and even homey. That, in itself, is a good feeling. The sand was covered by the tide when I took this picture, on the first sunny weekend day in Spring a few weeks ago. No horizon stretching out into infinity, though, and no beach stretching out to the side, either. We'll have to get down to at least the Oregon Coast to find those. Which we do!