Editor:

You never know which edition or piece in an edition will become an instant classic, a yellowing clipping on an anonymous bulletin board. That's how I felt about "Be a King Tides Groupie" (Jan. 2).

"King tides are exciting: the ocean creeps up and up into our faces, higher than usual. ... " Well, yeah, especially if you are buried chin-deep in the sand at Trinidad State Beach!

"Seems as good a way as any to finish off the moldering old year." Uh huh. Right. And yourself along with it. Is this the same team that did the pickup commercial on the beach and totaled the rig? A 99-cent tide book, or smartphone app, would have saved them much trouble. Wasn't that an all-male crew, too? What are the odds?

I note that Jennifer Kalt did not recommend beach burial as a preferred king tide observation tactic. Probably, Dr. Lori Dengler up at HSU would not recommend the strategy on California Big Subduction Day, whenever that is. Does Barry Evans have a tutorial on tidal forces and sneaker waves that these guys could review?

The accompanying photo is ripe for a caption contest. Allow me the first few entries:

1. Dig you later. Yeah, I got a tide book. Oops, wrong year.

2. Got my tide book. Gonna go up on the dune for a smoke and a couple of beers.

3. The bet is: Which will come first, the king tide or a sneaker wave?

4. My favorite, the classic: Grow your own dope, plant a man.

"As ever, use your noggin on this adventure and be careful." Oooooooh-Kay, Heidi! Ahh, young manhood. Would I do it again? In a hot New York minute!! Such a rush. The trick is to survive it.

Timothy Crlenjak, Eureka