Hitch Hiking in the New Year....

We got to go to the beach for New Year's. As often as we can, we try to spend the new year at the beach. This year we stayed at a really wonderful B & B down in Arch Cape, Oregon. The weather is always perfect at the beach--it doesn't matter. This years perfection included blue skies, cold, crisp days and not a drop of rain. The nights were clear and the abundance of stars made me think back to my childhood, growing up in northern New Mexico.

As a child growing up, I would often sleep out doors in a cotton sleeping bag. Later as an adult when I would return for a visit I would sleep out on the lawn or on the back porch. I love looking up at the stars, seeing satellites moving overhead and wondering about that patch called the Milky Way. I remember the first time I learned that many stars we see no longer exist because of the time it has taken for the light to travel to our waiting eyes. I doubt that I was more than six or seven when I overheard my father talking about it one night many years ago...I still remember the sensation in my brain as it stretched to comprehend this notion and new information that he was sharing.

These old, long ago memories came up a lot as I would stand and stare at the water. I made my mind stretch back to my first memories as I contemplated a new year and my life. Oldest memories include watching my older brother pee in a shoe because mom was in the bathroom and he didn't want to wait. I remember thinking, "uh oh--somehow this doesn't seem right." I move on to remembering being with my mother at her parents (my g. parent's house in Galveston). Mom and her mom were in a fight and my mother had locked us in the bathroom where she angrily cried and washed some clothes against an old wash board. I remember trying to figure out how I could help.

In both of these memories, I know I couldn't have been more than three or four years old--maybe even younger. And now I think of where I am and where I've been. I ponder the waves and their never ending movements and how all things pass and wear away. The rocks wear away in increments too slight to actively capture but time does show the effect. Is this why people make new years resolutions? Because, like our joints, the rock wears away?

Some of us stare and contemplate our past, others, such as the locals from Arch Cape, dive into their future. The New Year's Day tradition is a polar bear dip into the Pacific. Here Kim follows others as we make our way to "the site."

People did not dawdle. They went right in.

The woman in the blue suit is Barbara Shaw, our B & B host. She has been taking this dip since around 1945. Her husband Jim says, "That's not my thing" and he watched from a dry, warm distance.

Instead of taking a dip, Kim and I decided to take a hike. The Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain Trail goes from sea level up 1631 feet to its mountain peak. We were drawn to it because the literature boasts of "spectacular views." So, with my new knife in my pocket and no water, we ascended the trail for our three hour hike...Here are some of the views: Up we go...

An Enchanted Tree...

More up...

The view from the top peak!

We Made It!!

You can't really tell, but we are literally standing on the peak with its many jagged rocks, edges, and precarious nature. We may not be polar bears but we are in parallel contention.

After going up comes going down. Tiny detail which we missed involved taking the exact trail back down that we came up. Who would know given that a kind gentleman pointed out what seemed to be the continuing trail, just down the opposite side? So off we hiked, down a new trail that after about an hour we started to think, this just doesn't seem right. But on we went, it was headed down after all. There were a few more challenges-- as in felled trees splayed across our pathway.

By this time, our joints were achy and worn down to a perceivable point. I had to cut Kim a walking stick with my survival knife; we didn't think about water. But, if we'd wanted or needed water, we spied areas with bits of ice that we could have sucked upon to survive.

We did make it down but alas, we over shot our parked car by 2 1/2 miles. We took the "Oregon Coast Trail" down to a nice parking lot that seemed very far away. We struggled with our options, we even asked for a ride and got turned down (oooooh, Karma). We started to have a bit of a fight--let's just walk, no, let's just wait OR, let's just flag someone down, aka hitch hike. "Would you pick us up?" I asked as Kim began waving along the highway. Her answer, which I could barely discern was, "Two women like us???? You bet I would!" And, in about 20 seconds, the first car that came by was a very sweet young man in a red pick up truck. He immediately stopped and said, "No worries." His name was Brian and he was a surfer from Portland. Alas, I didn't have the foresight to take his picture. He delivered us to our car and drove away with a smile. He will remain in my memory and heart for as long as possible. Thank you Brian.

Back we went to our cozy place at the beach, indoors, warm, and grateful for our killer view and

more walks...

more beauty.

My journey from those early memories to the newly created have given me much to ponder and a strong sense of gratitude for this life.

Kim and I wish you a new year that brings you discovery, lessons you can bear, happiness, laughter, and good health. May you not have to discover pee in your shoe.