Let us begin at the beginning, with some wisdom as old as the shore: A long, long time ago, on an island the first people of this land called Limuw, ancient mountains rose above a coast wreathed with tide pools and pebbled beaches. -Introduction: The Sea Has Music for Those Who Listen

The water churned with a wild energy one winter morning in Imperial Beach, and the people living along Seacoast Drive had been forewarned. Sandbags, stacks along driveways and sliding glass doors, lined the quiet beachfront road. Boarded-up windows cast an even darker predawn gloom. At 4 a.m., the neighborhood barely stirred, but those lying awake in bed could feel the deep rumble, then crash, as the ocean unleashed wave after big wave. It was only a few weeks into the year 2019, and the sea, burdened by melting ice and a human-altered world, was already hinting at what will become routine. -Chapter 1, California Against the Seaa