Why Checking the Tide?
When I was little, my favorite New Year’s activity was going to the marine supply store with my dad. I loved looking at all the hooks, ropes, paddles and life jackets. But the thing I loved most—and the reason for the trip—was to get a new tide chart. I’d flip through it on our way home; it blew my little mind that all the tides for the whole year were laid out for me. I’d turn to my birthday to see if it would be a good day to swim (not my favorite activity) or a good day to look at tide pools (always at the top of my list).
By the way, we didn’t have a boat, but we did live on a peninsula.
The almost mile-long road that connected us to the rest of the city could easily flood. Add a full moon and there was a chance you’d be stuck either at home or on the other side until the tide went out. My parents kept a tide chart hung in the kitchen (and my sister and I took turns giving the daily update), but they also kept one in the glove compartments of their cars, just in case.
I can only remember a few times when Saturday plans were derailed or my dad called to say he’d eat dinner with his mom because he couldn’t get home. And when I was 13, the road was raised 3 feet, and just like that, my day no longer started with checking the tide.
Over the past few years, I started checking the tide again. But now I have an app on my phone and the tide affects my life in a different way. It determines if the beach will be crowded when I go to soak up the sun (people seem to love high tide), if I’ll see wet crabs scurrying back to the water or find their sunbaked bodies. It also determines if my poodle Kai will end our walk soaking wet or caked in muddy sand.