ANOTHER EVEN-MORE-GORGEOUS VACATION DAY: Thursday, August 4 (my mom’s 94th birthday!)

   We slept late on Thursday morning, enjoyed a pancake brunch, and watched the clouds lift from the cliff tops, allowing brilliant sunshine to flood the inlet from a sapphire sky. In early afternoon, Joy and I found ways to sit safely on the dinghy’s sides and the outboard motor cooperated with Walt so that he could take us to the dock near Chatterbox Falls. We walked along the beautiful, shady trail leading to the side of the falls and then to the beach at the edge of the rushing stream below it while Walt returned to the sailboat for a nap. We took pictures of the falls, the sky-scraping cliffs beside it, and the cliffs lining the inlet that look as if tar had at some point been poured over the snowy rock faces and had dripped down toward the sea’s surface. I removed my shoes and socks and engaged in one of my favorite activities: wading! I shuffled along in the refreshingly cool wavelets that were stroking the beach, composed partly of velvety mud and partly of soft sand, that curves back from the falls toward the dock, while Joy paralleled my course farther up the shore. (The picture above will give you some idea of the marvel that is this inlet!)
Walt returned for us at 3:30 pm after we had enjoyed a 1.5-hour excursion, and we three then motored in the dinghy along the heavily wooded shores of the inlet for about a mile, pointing out waterfalls along the way and stopping at the bottom of one whose origin we could JUST see so high above us on the cliff face that tipping our heads back far enough to discern its “doorway” made our necks hurt! The thin white ribbon of water burrowed into the rocks next to the dinghy after its long downward journey–what a delightful splashing song it sang!
We motored back across the inlet and along the side of it on which Braesail was anchored, inhaling the scent of the cedar trees and finding “our” moss-lined chattering rapids, which were now visible near the boat’s stern at low tide. Shiny white water foamed over emerald topped rocks and tumbled into the ocean, laughing happily as it dove and disappeared.
Back on the boat, we made preparations for our departure from the inlet on Friday morning, played “Hearts” after dinner, and again slept very peacefully as the rapids sang  us a liquid lullaby!