This photo is of a tourist spot, but it was a hard-won spot tourist spot for me.

I had injured my knee early in the summer so I walked across the beach on crutches, which is quite difficult, mostly because there is no way to walk on crutches across a beach without it being exhausting. I would hobble along with my crutches, then get tired of them sinking into the sand and then try to hop with my one good leg. I dragged myself across the beach, hobbling and hopping. I just wanted to get myself to the water and the rocks. And I did, and what a place it is. The rocks overlook the northern Pacific Ocean, facing its icy seas and the endless buffeting of its wind. They are covered in birds which feed on the snacks that tourists leave behind and small creatures in the tide pools. The birds are everywhere, always screaming a harsh song for the world to hear.

I photographed one of the “needles” beside the main rock, closest to the sea. Like the others, it was covered with birds. And by extension, bird poop. That is the white paste on the rock, but I think that with the black rock in gives it more character and authenticity. It draws out the lines and the crevices in the rock. The cold blue light and mood of the photo really capture the chill of the day, with the waves crashing and throwing mist into the already wet air.

The beach receives over 200,000 visitors a year, but the number of visitors does not mean a place is no longer beautiful, but that its beauty might be trivialized and taken for granted. Its beauty is then like the rock, covered in many birds and all that comes with them. That does not mean that the birds should leave. It means that if for even a moment, if the birds could stop and look at where they live, they might see even a glimpse of the grandeur around them. And if birds (and I really mean us people) could do that, I think the world would be a more beautiful place for it.

Haystack Rock is a rock formation in Cannon Beach, Oregon and is 235-ft (72-m) tall at its highest. The rock that you see is a small outcrop on the west side, facing the sea. Cannon Beach is large, with many tide pools and a cold wind coming off of the Pacific.