Yesterday afternoon, I gathered my new aluminum collapsible shovel, a bucket and some extra clothing and drove the short scenic drive to the Bodega Bay flats. With my new fishing license in hand, I put on my hot pink beach shoes and clambered down the rocks to the flats. I was all ready to dig for clams.

Negative tide was still a couple of hours away but the flats were "dry". Walking on the sand several feet towards the bay, I sunk into the water-logged sand and my once dry feet were now squishy with ocean water. I loved it.

For company, there was a white egret and two chicks -a dinosaur family! A flock of godwits pecked at the water's edge looking for lunch and a few gulls patiently scanned the beach waiting for an opportunity.

Digging at the water's edge, I saw long, thin red worms, various dead crustaceans and once I found a rather odd looking worm with a dark jeweled stripe on its back. Whenever I dug a hole, it would fill with water almost immediately. A successful clamming day it was not. But what I did discover were orange tunicates, several jellies which had washed ashore and a rather large and beautiful red and black crab with arms raised and ready to fight. I found the pure joy of overturning rocks to peer into the world of small crabs. While I did find clams, I did find calm beauty and certainly, I will be visiting this world again soon.