Return to the Beach

With snow falling outside and my GTS in the garage, I'm going to dip into my newly-discovered stash of summer photos. This is a trip to Popham State Park, Phippsburg, back in August.

Looking north, the beach appears to be fairly crowded.

But to the south, there are more seabirds than sunbathers. 

Again, a closer look north.

And to the south. Here, there is no surf, and one must walk a bit farther to reach the beach.

There's something about a sandbar on deep water that seemingly demands jumping - either alone, just for the joy of it ..

...or as a competitive event. On this spot, each leap was judged and scored, nearly as technically as in the Olympics, although less politely. Instead of a series of cards with numbers, these guys shouted out semi-vulgar, often creative comments: "Jeez, Freddy, my grandmother does a better cannonball in her bathtub!" 

Not everyone comes to the beach to swim or dive ...

I enjoyed my picnic lunch in an unused lifeguard station.

My view from the station, at a comfortable distance from the noisy mob.

 Unfortunately, this gull objected to my presence, coming to the base of the station, then walking to the ocean. I'm fairly certain he was suggesting here that I should leave the lifeguard station and go jump in the water.