Capri

Since first we met, Nyel and I have had an ongoing discussion that always begins – “If you could have a little getaway place, where would you choose.  My answer has varied over the years – Capri, Corfu, maybe Carmel but it is almost always somewhere near the sea.  Nyel is equally consistent – the mountains.  Any mountains.

“And, if you have to have water, we could choose a place near a mountain lake,” he assures me.

But… the lake is not the sea.  And the mountains aren’t at sea level.  I feel nervous in the mountains – perhaps it’s the rarified air.  Perhaps it’s that getting anyplace requires climbing, either up or down.  Perhaps I’m just basically lazy.

Mountain Lake 

“We could choose a nice, big lake.  It would feel like the sea.  And you could just sit beside it and relax – no need to hike.  Not up. Not down,” he teases.

“How about Paris?”  I counter.  We both love Paris.  Not by the sea.  And not in the mountains.  A compromise.

Maybe it’s because I’m a Pisces that I am drawn to the water.  And maybe it’s because I have always lived by tidal waters that I feel the need to be close to the sea.  For Nyel, maybe it’s because he’s a Leo that the mountains have appeal.  And maybe his childhood in inland, mountainous Idaho left an indelible yearning.  I don’t know the answer…

A Sunrise on Willapa Bay

Fortunately, perhaps, it’s only a game we play.  We aren’t really in the market for a getaway place – or even for a fantasy vacation.  We are content in Oysterville – admittedly, I more so than my lion mate.  From our house here across from the church, as my Uncle Willard wrote, I can watch the slow breathing of the bay, six hours in and six hours out. No matter where we are in the cycle, I am content that the ebb and flow will continue. Forever and ever.  Amen.