The forecast said 50-70% chance of rain. Perhaps high winds. It didn’t matter. We were going to the beach. Some are drawn to the vast, dramatic vistas of the desert. Some feel more attuned to lush mountains. While we love being out in nature in general, the ocean has a special place in our souls. I long ago realized that, while I love the contrast of the desert, the presence of water is what feeds my soul. Time in the mountains is always treasured, but needs to include water in form of lakes or streams for me to be fully happy. But the ocean, I am so drawn to the ocean, a curious enigma considering I get sea sick and am terrified of big waves and strong currents. I suspect growing up in the Midwest has scarred me for life! After a fantastic weekend camping with friends the week before, we packed up our little foursome and headed off into the weather to get our fix.

Karma was absolutely on our side. As luck would have it, we did experience rain, and yet never managed to get wet. After a late arrival and quick set-up and dog walk, we headed in the camper to start dinner just as the rain began.

We awoke the next morning to an anomaly. In spite of continuing forecasts calling for a chance of rain, the day dawned bright with no clouds in the sky. What followed next can only be described as an epic day on the Oregon coast.

There are few things we love more in life than a long walk on the beach in the morning, coffee travelers in hand, dogs running the sand. I mused, as always, that every day should start out just that way. On this day the beach appeared to be littered in miles of rock… this turned out to be tens of thousands of curious, very stinkey, jellyfish, the reason for their demise seemingly as much a mystery to the park officials as it was to us.

The sun intensified as we lounged in the sun back at camp. A true and deep sense of contentment was the prime focus of the day, intermingled with long walks, surf fishing, and gazing in awe at the colorful parade of parasailers flying by.

While discussion around our place often center on projects needing to be done to get the house on the market and far ranging plans for the big trip south, this weekend was about just living in the moment. Jim cleaned up his tackle boxes, I finished a novel I’d been slowly working on for over a month, Aspen & Porter slept hard in between lots of exercise. We ate, we drank, we soaked up the vitamin D, we relished simply being together in that marvelous moment.

The day ended as magnificently as it began with a campfire, whiskey, and rather astonishing star gazing. Although Sunday brought deep cloud cover and gray skies, the rain held off until we had just gotten into the car to head home, our luck holding out to the very end.

Once again, the ocean revived our spirits and nourished our souls.