Inhale the tangy brine of sea salt. Feel the crushed shells and rock underfoot. Here there is predictability in life and death, in coming and going. It is barren, then it blooms. Such is life in the tidepools. Unsheltered and exposed, the tidepools spread haphazardly in the indistinct space between ocean and land. Rocks form barriers between them, some smooth and others ragged. The frigid coastal wind batters the shore with merciless abandon, slowly weathering natural edges to dust.

When the tide is low, the pools are dotted with creatures. Predators overhead circle prey that lingers below. Slinking, creeping, and crawling, the ocean’s creatures are dredged up from the salty depths and exposed to the merciless world above. But soon enough the pools disappear and the ocean returns, wiping clean the slate and reducing feast to famine.

The God and Goddess giveth, and the God and Goddess taketh away...