__smoochyquemas__ PeeT it took us almost ninety minutes to reach the coast. the initial view was so overwhelming that we had to pull over at the first available spot and take it in. haystack rock, a monolith, which i later read is considered the third largest intertidal structure in the world, was visible at cannon beach. we continued on towards manzanita, stopping first at a gas station. i showed the friendly attendant where a rock from a mt. hood road hit our windshield and cracked it. he cringed, smashing down his small beard. i also asked him where laneda avenue was for that was our destination. he said we already passed it. we found coast cabins near the top of the street leading to the sea. it was a compound of elegantly designed, postmodern places set cozily into a hillside and embraced by a canopy of trees and manicured stands of bamboo. we met the jovial owner in his office. he poured us a glass of wine as he explained the procedures. he told us his boyfriend was off getting a surf lesson at oswald west, a place he highly suggested we should visit for its primordial sensations. we basically had the entire place to ourselves. our cabin was #4, sequestered in a copse of doug firs. everything was impeccable from the orchids decorating the robes, bed, and bath to the twin fireplaces, inside and out. but best of all a jacuzzi with shifting lights! oh my god! we so wanted to see breaking waves, so we unloaded the jeep and almost ran to the shore. 120502 ... PeeT _smoochyquemas__ 120502 ... PeeT smoochyquemas _smoochyquemas _smoochyquemas_ __smoochyquemas_ 120503 ... PeeT gary, the part owner of coast cabins had also told us of a nearby cafe he owned with pawel called vino. he said he was pretty sure the girl who ran it would be open. just to look for her sign. and so as we walked the quarter mile to the water we spotted it and vowed to return later in the evening for dinner. there were several interesting shoppes and galleries but it was the beach we sought. the first thing we discovered was the unique way the mountains of doug firs hugged the shoreline. on the vast expanse of the sand itself were massive trunks of trees that had turned to driftwood over time, some three feet across and burned. we later learned bonfires were a means of entertainment during the evening. also immediately noticeable were dogs and their owners strolling along the tideline. we met a grey-haired, teva-wearing woman who had rescued a part chihuahua/part terrier. the little dog was friendly. she wagged her tail and wanted us to pet her so badly, but at the same time was nervous and stayed back. her name was callie. we took a long walk. not much to find. no shells, except for a few broken sand dollars. there were two dead sea birds. yet, the most fascinating thing were the streams that run from the mountains down into the ocean. it made me regain a more complete sense of how much water there is on the earth and that we are all living on islands. the sea is accepting and full of love somehow. she wants us to look at her and want to be like her. 120503 ... PeeT on our way back to the cabin, we stopped at a small mexican cafe for chips and salsa. we engaged a couple at a table across from us. the dude, in trotsky hat and beard was friendly and inquisitive. he was an out-of-work handyman, originally from philadelphia and now living in portland. the girl he was with was from connecticut. she was into acrobatic yoga and was interested in the use of a slack line. they were both 31 and had just hooked up recently. this trip to manzanita was their first get away as a couple. i bought us a round of beers and then doug got the second one. our conversation flowed nicely on a variety of topics and through laughter, contemplation, insight, and shared experience, somehow we created a short term connection in an existing space, a situation that has become characteristic of us. later that evening when we visited vino cafe, the same thing caught spark with another couple beside us, and magically burned a comforting glow between our tables. the woman was a local and used to run vino but now worked elsewhere at a winery. she took it upon herself to choose wines for us and gliding along the sleek wooden floors in her uggs, did a personal tasting right at our quaint table. her friend who was running the place seemed to need the help. she was trying hard but was elegantly flustered. her male partner had just been to nyc to visit his brother who has a place on 23rd st. in chelsea, our stomping grounds. he was also involved in a children's book with an accompanying cd that won an educational grammy for its clever way of introducing kids to jazz. the menu was limited and mostly consisted of tapas, featuring a pheasant and rosemary pate. 120504 ... PeeT we returned to the cabin, walking up the tastefully lit path along the privacy stretch of dense bamboo. i reignited both fires and turned on the hot tub. needless to say, under a full moon, lining planets, and a gentle leaf-stirring breeze, perfection was achieved without effort. of course i had anticipated this moment ever since i first beheld the tub and the fireplace, creating the scene inside my head with elaborate details, and now that our naked, glistening bodies were painted with moonlight, entwined under the swirling changing colors, and eventually melted into puddles of satisfaction, we emerged and continued the bliss inside until the curtains of rynomari were drawn. y que mas? 120506 ... PeeT in the morning, while kathy luxuriated in the downy softness of the feather bed, i had a solo soak in the tub, reliving the memory of the night before. soon after, as the day arrived with yet another smiling sun, we strolled towards the sea, stopping for coffee at a small shoppe near the beach. while we sat a table a family came in, a grandpa, mother, two school girls and their little brother. the boy, about five, locked eyes with kathy and we weren't sure if he was shy or captivated by her. she is a nanny and is used to drawing the attention of children by her affectionate glances, but this boy seemed affected by her beyond the usual momentary exchange. he turned reflective or was it a wave of longing, we couldn't quite decipher it. in either case, his mother had to get down on one knee in front of the doughnut case to investigate his sudden smitten state, whispering with hushed tones into his downcast face, little fists rubbing at his eyes. we might have made more out of it than there was, but then again it may have been more than what we knew. later, we left our shoes next to a huge driftwood trunk of a tree and walked barefoot along the tideline. we saw the family near the edge of the woods where a stream merrily flowed. the little boy played with his sisters, oblivious to our presence. we strolled on, delighting in the many dogs that skipped about. one crazy terrier mutt came running straight at us with feverish momentum and just before it reached us, it turned tightly around our legs and returned to its master, a big-bellied man who revealed he was a local who lived in a trailer park. he was super friendly, generously sharing how he ended up in oregon and explained how his dog does that weird thing. 120508 ... PeeT several people told us we had to go to oswald west, a state park just up the road from manzanita. we checked out of the coast cabins and found it easily, pulling into a parking area where several surfers were in the process of loading and unloading their boards. there was a tunnel that led under the highway to a short hike through a jaw-dropping rain forest to the sea. the vast antiquity of fir-lined mountain and exposed rock formation infused with swollen streams, waterfalls, ubiquitous moss, and massive collections of driftwood was stunning and perpetually captivating. i love how time is defined in places like this. tides, the movement of the sun, the imperceptible decomposition, the velocity of the movement of water. we let it work its magic in us, humbly bowing to what we didn't understand but knew was flowing through us. 120509 what's it to you? who go blather from