The Edge of the Sea

By: Steve Neff

Standing on the shore by the monument to sea level rise, one is drawn to trace one’s arm across the island landscape, to imagine what may disappear from view in 75 years. Underwater certainly will be the neighborhood of luxury homes along the adjacent ‘Sand-spit.” At millions each, these are still bought-and-sold as if they were on ‘high ground’ even though they already flood on King Tide/storm days. “Keep my judgements to myself,” I say. As my gaze leaves shore and crosses the Salish Sea (Puget Sound), it strikes me that the ensuing chaos in store for the port city of Seattle is too great to ponder. So I let my eyes travel north to Brackett’s Landing at the Edmonds ferry terminal. In 1956, I caught my first saltwater fish at age six off that landing.

Along the beach’s pedestrian walkway vertical wall, where they face the water by the edge of the beach, is an edited version of Rachel Carson’s passage from her book, The Edge of the Sea. No signs indicate the location of the inscription. One must venture out on the sand and be surprised to read: “To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, is to have knowledge of things as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”

Brackett’s Landing is now a marine sanctuary and an off-shore mecca for scuba divers. I let my musings rest on the vision of next century scuba divers reading this passage now beneath the ebb and flow...

Fay Bainbridge State Park is at the Northeast end of Bainbridge Island in the Salish Sea (Puget Sound). This “Reverse Time Capsule” is a monument to what is in store as sea levels rise due to man-made climate change.

Photos from Steve Neff