Our bay is across from Vancouver Island, not too far from the mouth of the Salish Sea. In our bay, the tidal range is generally between ten and 12 feet. In November, December, and January, when the sun, moon, and Earth line up just right, we have King Tides, which makes the high tide significantly higher. An extra three feet, combined with high winds at times, results in a bit of coastal flooding. This isn’t a danger for our home, which is well above the highest tides. In fact, our home is above the projected tsunami area, right next to the gathering and staging place in the event of a tsunami event. We are where those who live in lower elevations are supposed to come in the event of a tsunami.

Having lived most of my life a thousand miles or more from an ocean, I have little experience with the tides. The first time I remember being aware of somewhat higher tidal range is when we visited the Brittany coast of France, where the tidal range is about twice what it is here in our bay. When the difference between high tide and low tide is 25 feet, fishermen can safely bring their boats in near shore at high tide and the boat will be resting on the mud at low tide. Some fishermen in the region routinely ground their boats to perform routing maintenance including removing barnacles and applying bottom paint. I was impressed with the tidal range that we witnessed during our visit.

Many years later, having learned a bit more about tidal variation and range, we were privileged to visit the Bay of Funny on the east coast of Canada. I think that the Bay is one of the places in the world with the most extreme tidal range. When we visited, the difference between high and low tides was around 50 feet. That meant that we went walking on a sandy beach, underneath some dramatic bank erosion at low tide. Later that same day, I kayaked along the same stretch of coast at high tide. My boat was nearly 20 feet higher than where the tops of our heads were when we walked on the beach.

There are clearly places in the world with more tidal range than where we live. However, the range hers is fairly dramatic. Small boats that are attached to mooring anchors in the bay will be floating at high tide and sitting in the mud at low tide. Our bay is fairly shallow which means that there is a half mile and more of exposed sand and mud when the tide is out. Among other things this means that when we want to take a dip in the ocean at low tide, we have to walk an additional half mile to get to the water’s edge. It also means that the water is shallow, making for a safe place for children to play.

Yesterday was another hot day for us. I think the high temperature was around 80 degrees, but there was a good sea breeze to make things feel cooler at the coast. It was a good day to take the children to the beach, which we did in the mid afternoon. After a long trudge across the sand and mud flats with a bit of delightful stomping in puddles, the children were able to dip into the water and play. The water in the bay is around 50 degrees in the summer and generally about 5 degrees cooler in the winter. It is a great temperature for children’s water play on a hot summer day. The long stretch of the beach at low tide means that the water play will take place where there is no available shade. The high tidal range means that the water level changes quite a bit in the time that the children were playing and one of my jobs was to keep track of the shoes and other items that had been shed at water’s edge. Since the tide was coming in at the time of the play, I had to move those items farther away from water’s edge several times. Each time I retreated farther from where the children were playing. There was no danger as their mother and grandmother had waded out to where they were and the tidal variation is low enough that the water was still very shallow even though the beach was moving away as they played.

Three of our grandchildren wear glasses, so those had to be carefully stowed in a backpack worn by an adult while the children were playing in the water.

Despite mild challenges of organization with five grandchildren of varying ages, the shallow water meant that they stayed together and the job of keeping track of five grandchildren was light duty for three adults. And, because this is where we live, we can easily promise the children that they will get another opportunity to play in the ocean soon. After all their silly grandfather joined with his neighbors to take a plunge in the bay on New Year’s Day. I have a friend who lives on Whidby Island, a couple of hour’s drive from our home, who swims in the ocean every day year round. I’m not that hardy, but I don’t mind sweeping the sand that gets transported back to our house. When our grandchildren are around we do laundry a bit more often, so a daily load of towels and swimwear doesn’t increase the work load much.

And the children have so much fun playing in the water. I’d put up with double the mess for the absolute delight to be with children who are so able to live in the present. The few worries that I carry melt away in the laughter and splashes in the water.

One of the gifts that grandparents have to offer to grandchildren is witness. Many times all we do is watch and remember. Today is five years to the day from the day I received a text message with a photo from Japan announcing the arrival of a grandson. His birthday is tomorrow here because of the time variation between Japan and where we live. It was kind of fun to announce to a church meeting, “My daughter just gave birth to a grandson tomorrow in Japan. I knew of his birth before midnight the evening before in our time zone. So today is a day of quiet celebration for me and tomorrow will be a delightful day of celebration for him.

Here’s another blessing of retirement: This year we have been able to be present for the birthday celebrations of all of our grandchildren. It is so much fun that i hope we can do it again many times in the years to come. The laughter of the children, however, invites me to be present in the here and now and not to think too much about the future. Here and now, life is good.