Manzanita, Oregon Coast Caravan

In August we headed down the Oregon coast with friends for some much needed R&R. In the red machine was our van buddies Catherine, Michael and Madeline, we love them. The first day of our adventure we drove into dark clouds and rain. Luckily we were meeting our friends Jenny and Robin at a beach house, they warmed our spirits with a delicious northwest meal and filled our wine glasses full. The following two days were blue bird sunshine bliss. Catherine posted photos and wrote the sweetest post about the trip over on her photo blog. I loved this paragraph that she wrote and have found myself re-reading it all week.

 

“Relishing in the life that we feel would suit us perfectly. The life where all we need is each other, our VW van, the earth, our love for each other and the love of our friends, some of our favorite people on this whole earth… where it’s perfectly normal to all sleep in the same bed together as a family, parked on beaches & in marinas, normal to be horribly dirty but feeling pure, to be a little lost but wholly found, to be utterly exhausted but fully energized. The life where all that matters is what immediately surrounds us.”

Can I get an Amen?

 

I already feel overdue for another camping trip. It was a magical escape, the kind of days that you dream about all winter long. Looking at these images reminded me of this poem by Billy Collins (especially the last six lines).

 

Today

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

 

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

 

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

 

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

 

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

 

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

 

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

 

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

 

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

 

-Billy Collins