Barnacles & Mussels

Originally I wanted to have one post about my Thanksgiving trip called "Nuts, Bolts, and Barnacles."  (I thought the name was catchy.)  But after I looked at these little beauties I realized they deserved a post of their own.  I almost missed seeing them because they were down in between the large rocks at the end of the pier.  I had to lay completely flat on my belly on the large rocks (shown below) to take their photo.

When I first saw them I was quite impressed by their sheer numbers and you know I LOVE repetition.  As I looked down at them I was so joyful to see them all huddled together thriving in their abundant barnacle city.

And the barnacles were not the only ones thriving...the mussels were hanging in there too.  It was interesting to see the contrast in color and texture where the two met.

I was also happy to find the barnacles on these incredible rotting posts.  The combination of the craggy wood and barnacles made my heart skip a beat.  Not to mention the sun was setting and lighting the whole scene in beautiful, golden light.  I wondered if the barnacles were enjoying it as much as I.

The photo below didn't quite fit into my barnacle theme but the surface of this log caught my eye as I lay on the rocks.  It reminds me of a heartbeat reverberating outward (or maybe a many-armed spider).  Either way the combination of algae, age, and texture was stunning.

As I stood up after half an hour of jubilant scrambling around the rocks I noticed my shadow had grown quite long.

And when I turned around I was greeted by the rays of the sun lighting the algae a most amazing, vibrant green. I know my last post ended in a sunset also, but you have to give a girl a break.  I could have done a whole post just about this sunset!
 

As I sat here thinking about that day it made me realize that sometimes your shadow is what makes you turn around and see the light. And sometimes the light colored barnacles are made all the more beautiful by a dark line of mussels (and vice versa).  I recently read a book called, "In Praise of Shadows" by Junichiro Tanizaki and it taught me a lot about the value of darkness.  As I looked for a quote to end this post I came across these two that say it perfectly.

“I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light,
things that have saved my life over and over again,
so that there is really only one logical conclusion.
I need darkness as much as I need light.”
― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Götz von Berlichingen