It Feels Like Summer!

Summer arrived this week. She might leave for awhile, but then she'll be back. Record-breaking temperatures over the weekend made our first overnight trip on the boat this season a great success. 
Mount Baker appears to be floating on clouds beyond the Salish Sea. 

Fat seals lounged on sunny rocks and looked up indifferently as we motored past. 

We took our two granddaughters for their first overnight on the boat. Port Browning was our destination, on Pender Island. There's absolutely nothing like a beach, even a rocky one, for entertaining children. 

Gulls cried and swooped across the water and we watched one pick a crab from the sea, bang it on the rocks, and devour it in front of us. 

A curious river otter (they live in the sea, too) watched the girls playing near his fishing ground. He studied them, then flipped his tail and dove, several times. He, too, caught a fish and ate his dinner there.

I spent most of my time on the beach watching the girls. How quickly one forgets the energy it takes to parent little ones. By the end of the weekend, I was exhausted. It's not that they were demanding, but that I'm no longer accustomed to that "always watchful" mode in which parents operate. 

I took a few photos of this rock just below the water level. I didn't notice that I'd caught those three tiny bubbles until I looked at it on my computer. For some reason they tickle my fancy. How perfectly round they are, and for all their transparency, look at the shadows they cast. 

Here's another one of the same scene, this time as the rushing waves receded into ripples that caught the light in beautiful patterns. 

Our summer weather is supposed to continue through the upcoming long weekend. Hooray!

Is spring warming up to summer in your corner of the globe?