Northwest

If someone asked me right now to choose between Maine and Washington state, it would be a hard decision. Last week I spent the week with my daughter and son-in-law in Seattle. Her boss has a beach house right on the Pacific and we stayed there two days. Besides the beauty, I was most impressed by the sound of the ocean. So much power. I kept trying to push the thought out of my head that it sounds just like the interstate, not when you are out driving on it, but when you are standing near it. That power. Unyielding, constant, pushing. I am here, I am present, I am strong, you cannot subdue me.

The view has big dark trees framing the ocean that look like the trees in a Japanese painting. The only mar in the scene is the roof of the house below us and it's 4 skylights that look like plastic bubbles. There is a lush piece of bright green lawn and an old ripped up hammock.

The prediction had been 60 degrees and rain, but the weather had moved through early and we had 70 something and pure sun for our day on the beach. We got up early and ran down past the rock to the inlet and back. We found some THING that looked like a whip and didn't know if it was plant or animal but it was washed up onto the sand and creepy looking and gnats were working on it. There were only a handful of other people around and a couple of dogs.

The house had lots of windows and a beautiful view from every side. We had our food and wine and played Trivial Pursuit. That is the first time I had ever played. Paul Simon's Graceland was playing.

We drove home the longer way around Olympic National Forest. After a short hike in the forest we ate fish in a little lodge restaurant called Roosevelt Lounge.
After dark, we took the ferry back from Kingston to Edmonds. Sure enough, we asked her husband what that creepy thing was on the beach and he knew: kelp.

While in Seattle, my oldest was anxious to get me back out onto the tennis court, so we went and bought a racquet and played. Between the crummy racquet and the rusty skills and poor conditioning (at least for me) we were both terrible. I made a rule: No one is allowed to think about their last bad shot, only their next better shot. After about 10 minutes we began to be able to hit a little better. We played a few games and she won 4 to 3. The guy on the next court had on street shoes and was out there learning tennis from his friend who didn't know much either. He, the learner, said: You probably wonder why I know so much about tennis. It's because I've been out practicing with Venus and Serena Williams at the British Open. I laughed out loud. Later he said: I would probably play better if you had on one of those little white skirts. But my favorite comment was when his "teacher" said: those girls over there are a lot better than I am.

It felt good. There was a moment when I thought: yeah, I could go out and enjoy playing again. It's been 6 years.

They have a new (used) camper named Bell and it is from the 70's but it's in great shape and only cost them $1300. Camping with a frig and stove and heater. I am thinking I want one of these. We talk again about me moving out there. Why couldn't I do that for a year anyway and see if it leads anywhere? I grab a real estate paper and look again, as I always do in Seattle. There are some really cheap houses on the way to the beach.

It makes me happy to hear my daughter talk about her new job. The smaller company is more family like and not as competitive as her former company. And it's right where she lives, no commute. She even rides her bike to work once a week and got some of her coworkers to do the same. Cool.

I painted a picture of Copalis Rock on the beach. It will take some time to learn to capture the color and commit to it while I finish a painting since the color changes during the couple of hours it takes to paint it. Mostly sky, a small ocean with no waves and the Rock. The rock is too dark and too opaque and I want to paint it once more and see what it looks like in transparent colors. I would also stretch my paper first so that it wouldn't rumple up when it gets wet. The sky was better than my first try in Maine. No where to go but up.

I dream of what I'd do with her boss's beach house if I lived there.

It was easier to say goodbye this time, knowing that 2 days later she and her husband were coming to visit me on the East coast.