Despite wise advice to the contrary, what I do weighs heavily in how I choose to identify myself. I call myself the Ranting Ranger, after all. Recent life choices took me off the path of formal ranging, and I missed the feeling of the flat hat wearing a permanent crease into my forehead almost immediately. Yesterday's life experience left no doubt of the need to put myself back on the rangerly path in coastal California.

The long holiday weekend brought decent weather and excellent daytime minus tides to my corner of California, and between visits from various in-laws, I managed to slip away to the San Mateo County coast for the first time in about five years to soak up the serendipity. Both Pelecanus occidentalis californicus and Hemigrapsus nudus (above) made appearances immediately, so I saw what I had hoped to see, though the other usual suspects - giant green anemones and seastars, especially - proved somewhat scarce. The birds, the crabs, the algae, the sights, sounds and smells all came through for me, and I felt myself smiling through the whole experience.

As I sought out some of the flightier tenants of the tidepools, two boys one pool away announced their discovery of a hermit crab the size of a human hand. Closer inspection whittled the crustacean's actual size down to that of a child's palm, but I felt impressed and grateful for their sharing just the same. We talked crabs and sunsets for a minute or two before parting ways. It felt homey, talking crabs over the sounds of the smashing surf once again.

I saw the boys again on my back to the Hyundai, and asked if they had found any other crabs or cool stuff. The chattier one responded that he had seen a reddish-blue crab the size of a dinner plate, and I humored his description by asking about other aspects of the crab's anatomy.

The quieter boy asked, "Are you a ranger?"

"Yes, but not here," I replied without a ton of thought toward my actual, current title of "field educator." "What gave me away?" I wondered aloud.

"Just guessing ... you seemed like a ranger."

I guess I can't turn it off, and I can't stay away. The flat hat fits. I must wear it again. Opportunities have knocked; wish me luck.