We ended up not surfing, renting bikes, or going to Big Sur on Sunday, but instead sat in the warm sun at Lover’s Point for awhile and then walked up the trail alongside the shore.  When there were stairs we’d climb down to the rocky beaches and look at the hundreds of hermit crabs in the perfectly-still tide pools and I wondered if they like it better in the tide pools where they’re not getting crashed around by waves.  Scuba and I decided that they sit in there and meditate. 

At Lover’s there are public restrooms and I saw a woman in there with a starfish on a paper towel.  She was holding the starfish under the faucet to get it wet so she and her kids could take it home.  Strangely enough, she thought she’d be able to keep it alive.  You know, so long as it was on a wet paper towel.  I suggested, but in the nicest way I could, that the starfish wasn’t likely to survive the trip home, but to tell the truth I didn’t push it because she could have kicked my ass ten ways to Sunday.  Hell, her little kids could have probably taken me and one was still in diapers.  It bothered me, though, being such a coward when what I really wanted to do was tell her what a dumbass she was being and how she was killing this poor little creature. 

Later we saw the kids putting it back in the water.  It made me really happy.  I’m going to assume it was still alive.  And also that they weren’t just throwing a rock into the surf. 

Hang in there, little starfish dude.