Instead of doing more Christmas shopping, or wrapping presents, my friend Whit invited me on another beach hike to Bodega; so much better.

It was sunset on the lowest tide of the year — sun sunk west beyond naked seaweed beds; 5 minutes later a blossoming full moon peered over the Eastern cliffs.

We explored smooth rock faces otherwise inaccessible, covered in anemones, horse-neck barnacles, and orgies of starfish. So much Creature.

Saw exposed kelp gardens, with individual stalks standing erect, like miniature palm trees. Primordial. Walking on virgin sand, we are dinosaurs.

Climbed back up led only by the light of the moon, past Spirit Rock, where mammoths nestled rock thousands of years ago. I hug the cliff, wrap my arms around the largest piece of granite I can find.

Salt fog. Wet stones, mustard and crimson and black and jade. Muscle shells like shrapnel. Water breathing. So much ocean.

So much life.