1. Dig through the muck, find the history (from ArchaeOlygy):

Rip into it with heavy machinery, as happened when Mission Creek was
restored this Fall, and the stratigraphy makes the depositional history
that much clearer. The modern beach has been accumulating atop the
slumping clay fill of the road that dammed the creek a couple or three
generations ago. The yellow clay beneath the asphalt calved off and
melted away over the years after the road was built, spreading itself
thinner down the beach, taken by the very tides and waves that bring the
gift of gravel, sand, and shell from the north (including quit a few
Olympia Oyster shells, which  probably died decades ago in polluted Budd
Inlet).

2. The Yodelling Lama wonders about freshwater otters and shellfish. Maybe they’re freshwater shellfish.

3. Holy cats. Ask on r/olympia what you should know before moving to Olympia? Brace yourself.

You will have a tough time making friends because it’s a college town
with a transient population. Locals figure you’re going to split in a
year or two so they don’t bother trying to get to know you. #1 rule:
stay out of the drug culture. Heroin is huge here. It is everywhere. You
may out of loneliness and desperation for interaction be drawn in.
Every year some Greener freshman turns on and falls in and the army of
undead living in the woods grows. On every corner holding a piece of
cardboard is some asshole that I can say “Damn, I remember when she was
new and cute.” It’s really sad.

4. Marcus and family heads over to the Lights at Ken Lake. Hey, by the way, thank the sponsors this year (Eastside Big Tom and A+ Services). Another awesome Olympia light display is Olympialightstravaganza!