What I learned at the Oregon coast

I had this wonderful vision of myself tapping away at the laptop keys at the rental house in Manzanita, Oregon, but that’s not what happened. Instead I wandered the sand by the ocean in the early morning and in the evening, both alone and with friends, and became totally and completely relaxed. It was like a year of commuting, job upheavals and daily concerns were caught up in the coastal winds and carried deep out to sea.

Yes, it would have been good to be really productive and get a lot written of the Pepper Morgan mystery. But it actually felt more important just to be in the moment, thinking just a little about Pepper as I walked amid the seagulls and swallows, watched dogs romp through the waves after tennis balls, and listened to the children playing at water’s edge.

And I did learn — relearn! — a few lessons:

— You really can’t worry about outward appearances. At first I was rather dismayed when my hair went flying madly about, quickly losing its forced straight style. I looked like some sort of sea creature with curls. And then I drenched my pants in sea water. I looked crazy … and free. I decided to let go of the need to look presentable and to instead enjoy the freedom.

— Everything is fleeting. It’s fun to watch children build their sea castles but how quickly they are taken back to sand by wind and water. They are there and then they are gone, just like everything we create. That’s why the meaning is in the process, not in the product. It’s the creation of the sand castle — and the creation of every story and poem and drawing — that endures.

— Keep your eyes open for the surprises. One morning we looked up in the beach house to see a doe in the front yard. Minutes later, her dappled fawn joined her and they wandered down the quiet road. I saw them later, playing in an open lot. They might have visited every morning but we only saw them once. I’m glad we had our eyes opened that day.

— Enjoy friends and memories. On that first night, there were four of us friends and we had fun making pasta, drinking wine, petting the dog and chatting.  It was a reminder of all the good times, too, that I have had on the Oregon coast with my family, friends and relatives. It’s such a special place.

So here’s to many more gentle and creative walks on the beach … !

 

Manzanita, Oregon