We had a wonderful weekend at the beach. The weather was perfect, by my definition. Friday night a great storm rolled onshore. It didn't do much damage, but exhibited awesome energy and slanty rain. I love storms, especially storms while at the beach where I can sit inside cozily while watching the melee outside. The crashing waves were mesmerizing.
Saturday was still windy and rainy as we ventured out on a walk to Depoe Bay. We ate lunch, shopped for a sweatshirt for OC and jewelry for me, and were successful on both counts. Sunday was glorious: sunny, warm and windfree. February + Oregon Coast = AMAZING. We celebrated the occasion of finally seeing the sunshine with ice cream cones. We also visited a rare book shop where I found a 1902 copy of The Hounds of the Baskervilles, and then we went to the Oregon Parks-operated whale visitor's center.
Anticipating the hours of free time in which we were to behold and revel, I brought along a project: a crocheted blanket to give as a wedding gift to our friends. I spent hours counting and recounting the first chained row. I had to get the damn thing right from the beginning, and don't you know every time I counted the row I came up with a different number? It was annoying, as I had hoped to maximize my free weekend by crocheting the hell out of it and getting really far into it. But! I finally got it right, and made amazing progress Saturday and Sunday. It's a lovely, interesting interwoven ripple pattern, in shades of blue and a neutral offwhite. It is quite easy once you get the hang of it, so when I got the count right it went quickly which is good because the wedding is in June.
And now, it's Monday and I'm back in the salt mines. Tonight, however, will be fun. Sarah Vowell is going to be speaking at a bookstore, and I remembered to bring a copy of one of her books to have autographed. Which is to say, I am going out! To a literary event! Which I rarely do! I am meeting my friend (she's gorgeous and fit and supermodelish so we'll call her Vendela) and I'm bringing OC. It's time OC was introduced to an author. She's five, after all, and needs that kind of hero.
I know what I want to say to Sarah, and it's the usual claptrap about "OMG I love you! You're an excellent writer!" and the like. I also want to tell her how cool it is she gets to write about fun things, the same things that I like: historically-significant places, and national parks. I think the connection between historical events and people to our own lives is important to realize. She wrote about her Cherokee ancestors and the Trail of Tears, which makes the whole story much more interesting when your relatives are involved. If you know about the Civil War, you may only passingly acknowledge it or know vague dates or the more notable aspects but it may seem distant event. But if you know how your ancestors were involved or were affected, it's much more personal and real. It's a history that we all share, and that is why history is so cool. (You might now be thinking, "it sounds like this woman could be into geneaology..." whereby you would be right. Stick me in a library for hours at a time to do research into family backgrounds, or anything, and I am a happy girl!)
So yeah, I'm enjoying my life. I'm looking forward to tonight, as much for spending time with my good friend and my wonderful daughter, as meeting one of my favorite authors. It makes Mondays all the more bearable.
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