Stacking Stones on a January Afternoon in Encinitas

Drove out to the beach in Encinitas and ended up spending most of the afternoon on the sand, stacking stones. The beach there has these smooth dark pebbles scattered around, half buried, and once I pulled a few out I couldn't stop. Got a tower going — six or seven stones, one sandy brown one in the mix that didn't match the rest. It stayed up longer than I expected.

January and the beach was mostly empty, a few people down by the water. Warm enough to sit in the sand without a jacket. The stack was still standing when I left. Somebody or the tide will get it eventually.