Y & \ first appeared on a Santa Barbara beach in January 2020. I designate them Y and \ because one looked like a Y and the other a \.
I began to think of the arrangement as art when neither waves nor people destroyed it. Y never moved; the position of \ changed many times.
Smaller branches appeared. I came to think of the arrangement as an informal installation started by someone unknown and modified by others unknown.
As a focal point on a mostly barren winter beach, it drew people.
A low spot on the beach fills with rain runoff in the winter and mirrored what a friend dubbed The Dancers.
At times, Y stood alone. \ disappeared, reappeared, and disappeared again.
When the sea was rough, at high tide waves approached, but Y and \ stood their ground. Literally.
They danced in the midst of Santa Barbara's beautiful winter sunrises.
Crows enjoyed the perch.
The Dancers danced and the surfers surfed.
On occasion, they seemed to birth the sun.
While \ was away, a friend came for support.
They danced under a rainbow.
They welcomed each morning.
Y even served as a tentpole.
The sun balanced between them.
The tide occasionally met the runoff pond, making the land where The Dancers stood a peninsula.
They disappeared in late spring, when the city groomed the sand for summer beachgoers.