Our unprecedented September sunny spell continues. To take advantage of it Aki and I head out to the Rainforest Trail. It might seem an odd choice given how little of the morning sunshine will reach the forest floor. Only those shafts that manage to slip through a hole in the canopy will illuminate the understory.

Since the earth’s orbit around the sun changes daily, sunlight hits different plants every day. This means most of the berry bushes along the trail will never bath in direct light even if clouds never block the sun. Since the number of overcast days far exceeds those that enjoy direct sunshine, only a rare few forest plants will have their moment in the sun. Aki doesn’t place bets on this sunshine lottery. Bright light hurts her eyes. Her nose works just fine in the shade.

We drop down the forest trail to the beach where a gull is harassing a harbor seal near Shaman Island. Their lack of hands with opposable thumbs makes seals sloppy eaters. Bits of the salmon captured by the Shaman Island seal fly off as the seal clamp down on it. Normally a cloud of gulls would be harassing the hunting seal. But this morning, for some reason, only this lucky one gets to enjoy the leftovers.