Scrambled Clam Hash With a Side of Rain

Short on words today; long on love for this place.

"Price"less!

This morning I was in my happy place at my happy place (that would be Seaside Coffee House) when the nicest text came through. Hood River friends, Brian and Audrey Price and their 5 kids, were on their way home from Manzanita and wanted to meet in Seaside. We've talked about this a number of times and never quite connected - but today was the day! I hurried home, made my bed, threw dishes in the dishwasher and had enough time to dash to the local market and get 2 bags of oyster crackers. Kids + Seagulls + Oyster Crackers = Good Fun! (I hoped!)

You all know how much I love this place. And I know that kids (and dogs) all love to run and play at the beach. So I knew it would be fun, but I wan't sure . . . would they think the Boneyard was weird? (No) Would the seagulls scare them? (No) Would my dog hump their legs the entire time? (Yeah. So sorry about that.) 

It was a super fun visit with the unexpected bonus of seeing my beloved Boneyard through the eyes of 5 enthusiastic, energetic, curious little humans. Every rock, piece of bone and shell was a prize discovery. The seagulls and even the crows (my bad beach boys) behaved themselves and  feasted gratefully on oodles of oyster crackers. Reggie chased the birds and the kids relentlessly.  Kids stumbled and fell over rocks and got back up without a peep, in a hurry to get to the next thing.  Excellent questions were asked; imaginations fired full blast; no one thought the bones were gross and the sun even peeked out here and there!  When we got back to the house we compared individual bones to an intact bird skeleton; made spiralizer zucchini noodles and discussed horror movies while exploring the creepy basement. It was a good day.

Audrey and Brian, you guys rock. You are ballet dancers - making the grueling, exhausting work of parenthood look flawlessly effortless. Now that my 'young' parenthood days are behind me, I marvel at how we do it - but we do. And before you know it, your precious babies will be driving themselves to college in pick-up trucks and you'll wonder how you got there. And then you'll smile and have a glass of wine mid-afternoon - because you can!  I bow before you and thank you for sharing your beautiful family with me today. Much love to you all. See ya back in The Hood. And now I'm going to have a glass of wine!

A Room Without a Roof

Spring may technically be four days away but . . .

    I'm here to tell you . . .

It's here!

Baby green shoots are rising out of the dead dune grass; 

the beach pea is unfolding its little green palms;

 the slugs 

 (and Kim Lindemeyer) are dancing to THIS. 

 (Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap Clap)
  Don't even start in with the 'slugs can't clap' stuff.
I saw them.

Some images and words from the last few days . . . 

happy spring to you all!

Irrelevant

Oh, God dammit.
I forgot to label the bag.

Was that Colombian or Guatemalan?

I always think I'll remember.
I never do.

I fumble the #4 Melita filter in the pre-dawn light

But, mostly, my hands know what to do.

I gather my rain gear and the cup fills in drips.

Reggie prances. He knows this ritual.

Coffee in hand and a deliriously happy dog . . .

Can this be anything but good?

The bones of it are always the same:

Wake up

Brush teeth (maybe)

Last night's clothes

Coffee
Out the door.

That part doesn't change.

What comes next, however, is never the same.

I never know what will be out there.

Yesterday was an "iron" day . . .

An iron spike covered in those tube-worm things -

Medusa!

A twisted, crusted iron crucifix.
(benedictio in nomine Matris Oceanus)

I meander and sip.

My coffee cup gathers residue of sand and dog treats, shells, bones and kelp.

When my hands are too full I set my cup on an accommodating rock -

To better continue the hunt.

When I return the coffee is cold,

Diluted with rain

And kissed with salt.

It's the most perfect cup of coffee ever.

And the Colombian/Guatemalan debate becomes irrelevant. 

Goddesses at the Beach

I've spent some time getting to know Athena, Artemis, Diana and Elizabeth the 1st. They are powerful Goddesses (ok, Elizabeth was technically mortal, but only just barely), who, while invoking sometimes raging independence, also had their soothing and healing moments. They were usually fair and always unapologetic.
Artemis, in particular, is 'fiercely individualistic and and independent; she remains apart from relationship to men.' (Goddess Knowledge Cards Susan Eleanor Boulet).
Elizabeth is quoted as saying, "Better beggar woman and single than Queen and married."
and
"I am called the Virgin Queen.
Unmarried,
I have no master.
Childless,
I am mother to my people.
God give me strength to bear this mighty freedom."
Single AND queen seems to have been both a perfect compromise and an overwhelming burden. I am grateful for my simple life.
Artemis, Diana,  Athena and the Red Stag and Elizabeth the 1st - beautiful imagery online.
Today a mix of all four showed themselves via driftwood and bird bones at the beach.

And then tonight I heard them all in K.D. Lang's Hallelujah.
Watch it. All the way to the end. What beauty. What grace.
And as long as we're speaking of perfection . . .
fresh fried razor clams
(the recipe on the left; adapted for, like, 4 clams if you're a solo goddess; you will want leftovers for scrambled clam hash in the morning. I promise.)
with a squeeze of lemon.
The Ladies all would have approved.
Hallelujah..

About Time

I think about perspective at the ocean . . . 

feeling small in the face of such expansiveness. 

Today I got a wave of  that perspective across the coffee shop counter. . .

Today I spoke to a man

with two small children.

His wife is battling cancer.

He told me

the things he once thought were important

don't matter much anymore.

"It's the little things,' 

he said, as I handed him his coffee,

"the things right in front of you,

that matter the most."

Much love and honor to you both, T & M.