Discovery:  These water drawings, ocean drawings, wave drawings that have so fascinated me are not what they seem.  I thought the black sand was deposited on the lighter “white” sand as the waters receded.  Ah, figure/ground, positive/negative space, subject reversal: confusion abounds.  The black sand is under the white sand.  It is the white sand that is being drawn away, exposing the darker sand underneath.  If one scrapes away the lighter top layer…there is darker sand beneath!  I verified this by drawing a deep line in the sand with my finger.  Now, wouldn’t it be fun to dig a hole, then use a trowel to slice vertically down the side of the hole and see the layers, whatever layers there are?

We assume dark writing, drawing, mark-making on a light background — unless we are doing something as retro as using chalk on a blackboard.  Or unless we are the ocean, leaving our beautiful traces.  It is such a delightful thing that there are two major colors of sand. These traces might otherwise be undetectable, by us, at least.

I wish I could actually see it while it is happening.  Perhaps I will venture into the waves.