A Good Place to Land

Letting go of summer, I felt crazed and concerned.  So we packed up and drove to the ocean.  I wanted to escape and untangle from the first few days of school.  I hoped I might return blowing in on a breeze that was heart-filled and changed.

In the dark, we arrived uptight and annoyed.  Amongst all the barking, shrill calls, raucous partying, and wood splitting of the campground at ten o-clock at night, I realized we are a team.  We quickly set up the tent by the beams of light from our car, then quietly transferred the children to their warm sleeping bags.  

 

 

 

The beauty of the beach in the morning sunrise was gentle and surprising.  We tried to fly our kite until the wind died down.  Then the sand, rocks, driftwood and secret hiding places became our focus.  We never tired of exploring or finding treasures.  We had lunch overlooking the most beautiful estuary I have ever seen.  Our hostess said, "Enjoy your table, today you get to eat with this view!"

 

I began to cross the bridge from feeling nervous and irritated about the upcoming dark winter.  I was moving towards feeling more open.  I recently read this wonderfully honest post about having a hard winter, like the one I had last year.  It helped me feel less alone and scared about what's to come.  I remembered to prioritize specific parts of my survival plan.  I looked around, taking in all the wonder and majesty around me, right now.  What we found between the rocks was similar to the last time we were here, when she was his age: a natural phenomena that blew my mind.

 

After all that tide pooling and playing in the river as it rushed into the ocean making the most amazing channels and currents, some of us got wet and had to warm up by the fire.  Papa made sure it was going to blaze for a while.  Soon there were only coals left and we prepared to say goodbye to the Olympic Peninsula the next day.

 

 

 

"Kalaloch is a corruption of the Quinault term k'–E–le–ok,

pronounced Kq–â-lā'–ȯk, meaning a good place to land."

   

While we camped at Kalaloch, I found myself feeling grounded and reconnected to my kids, my husband and myself.  I felt safe accepting what may come as the days get shorter and the overall light is less.  I thought about this today on my one year blog anniversary, that here, I feel creative and joyous, it has been a very good place for me to land.  I'm looking forward to feeling a bit giddy and scared about change, maybe even a little bit jumpy and optimistic about learning more about myself.