After a weekend of excess, exercise was Job One this morning, and by the time I had completed my ablutions and scarfed down a bowl of cereal, it was almost time for the minus tide. To go or not to go? I had a mundane chore (laundry), an exciting chore (reply to a startling missive from the IRS), and a supportive chore (convince my insurance to help the woman whose car I hit) on the agenda, plus my husband wants me to get going on my new career as an options trader. But I haven’t been tide-pooling since early April, so I decided to squeeze it in.

Each month and day is still my first in California. That is, today is my first May 30, and this May has been my first May, as a resident of this long state. Monterey Bay is verdant with blooms of phytoplankton and dense kelp forests now, and there are lots of creatures feeding here, so I thought maybe the tidepools would be dense with creatures as well. Instead, they were brimming with seaweed. Next time, I will bring a stick to push the stuff aside and look under it.

The trip was worthwhile, though, because I saw more than a dozen harbor seals of various sizes–moms and kids?–stretched in a line at the far edge of the tide pool between the shore and the surf break, sunning themselves. I had binoculars, through which the seals seemed close enough to touch, so I observed them for a while. They have beautiful eyes and really awkward sleeping positions. I was afraid some of them were dead because they were perched so oddly, but then they moved. They are the opposite of graceful out of the water, but very cute.

Did I take some pictures? Well, yes. Did they come out? No. Too far.

I frequently watch people zooming their cell cameras, but when I try the same action on mine, it doesn’t zoom. I keep thinking, I need to figure this out, and then not remembering to do that. Later today, much later, when most chores were done or at least advanced, I finally remembered to get online and find out how to zoom mine. It’s really pretty easy, unsurprisingly. The seals inspired me, and I hope they will pose nearby again soon.