The beach is unlike any other landscape. It gets remade by the tides twice every day. It is dull and dark one minute, glistening white the next, mirror-like an hour later, and sometimes all of it at once. Its color is as variable as the weather, its skies are bigger than Montana's. It is a stage for endlessly entertaining animal and human antics, from the sanderlings running in and out of the water to the sunbathers fending off lunchtime raids by brazen seagulls. It makes humanity look small against nature, as if we might not be strong and dumb enough after all to mess it up.  Thanks to Barbara, Charlie, Claire, Bill, Laura, Gary, Karen, Dwight, Laura and Marc for graciously providing shelter, food, and company.