There’s something about them that draws people. Possibly it is the way they break up the smoothness of a seven mile beach.

I have written before about the history of Googins Rocks, so I won’t repeat myself. The rocks more or less mark the boundary between the Maine vacation communities of Ocean Park and Old Orchard Beach. I have walked by them probably about 600 times during my lifetime, usually not stopping to look.

At low tide there are usually dozens of people climbing on the rocks, especially children looking for shells or small sea creatures trapped by a receding tide. I’m not adventurous – I always think I will slip and bash my head or my knees. I was much more adventurous in my youth.

This year my first photos were taken on a day when the sun was hiding behind some early morning clouds. I found the lack of full sunlight made them look somehow different. Or maybe it was not seeing them for a year.

Later in the day the rocks will have lots of people climbing on them. In the early morning though people are mostly just walking by.