Pacific City Beach

On Sunday I had a sudden hankering to climb the dune at the Pacific City beach we like to go to.  Max has become increasingly reluctant to go to the beach (or anywhere) even though he almost always has the best time there.  To my surprise the kid went along with the plan.  I love taking the dog with us because she loves the beach more than any other place.  She spends all her time running between her people on the beach.  She runs up the dune with Max and Philip who are ten times faster than me at getting to the top and when she's reached the top she looks for me and then bolts down the soft shifting dune to screech to a halt next to me, sand flying, tongue hanging out, complete dog joy radiating through her muscles. 

The tide was going out while we were there so we got to climb over the tide pools and see the pink and purple starfish still clinging to the rocks and see tiny catfish swimming around in holes in the rocks.  It was cold so I didn't wade in the water like I usually do, though I did take my shoes and socks off.  Many years ago I discovered that the best pedicure for tough feet like mine is time spent walking barefoot in rough sand and cold Pacific Ocean water.  When you leave your feet will be amazingly soft!

I try to find a dry rock to lay down on so I can close my eyes and just listen.  I find myself recharged if I can stop talking or listening to people and breath deeply of the cold salt air and concentrate on the sound of the ocean.  The ocean actually frightens me quite a bit and I think what is therapeutic about visiting it is letting go of everything.  A tsunami may come and engulf me, or one of us might get sucked under a strong current, but whatever happens I just feel this sense of smallness.  Not exactly helplessness but a sense of the largeness of the world and how my one small life is just a speck.  My spirit is just visiting in this body and if the body is taken away- the ocean will still be there.  The dune will still shift in the strong winds.  What is there to worry about?  What is there to fear?  I am here until my time is done and it is really just as simple as that.

It is easy to find comfort in the order of the universe if you sit still and don't engage in petty thinking, if you can be lulled by a sound much greater than your own or anyone else's.  I love how when you close your eyes at a sparsely populated beach the voices of what people are there recede and become meaningless chatter like the sound of the birds and the barking of the dogs.

We always end the day at the Pelican Inn.  It's expensive but a real treat.  They have fantastic french fries and their beer is superb.  It's right there so we don't have to move our car or do anything more than put the dog in the car and go in for pints with our sandy feet.  

This is my single most favorite family outing.  We all feel better when we get home.  Refreshed and tired from the exercise.  It was a great Sunday.