new years' from the coast!

click to see full photo galleryHappy New Years' Eve from the glorious (and very stormy!) Oregon Coast!!

We arrived yesterday, car fully loaded with necessities, entertainments, and food (mostly food), in our beloved Oceanside. It was a beautiful afternoon, actually, quite warm and no wind at all, with some sun and clouds and the tide the lowest we've ever seen it here: out a good 300 yards or more. So after we unloaded the car, and had a little snack, we headed out to the sand to walk about a bit and explore parts of the beach that are normally underwater.

We spent the evening enjoying the chef's incredible and incredibly famous wings while we watched Pride and Prejudice. (The Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth version.) We'd bought it last year to watch at the coast, but ended up doing a marathon of Boomtown instead, so I've been looking forward to a P&P rewatch all year, and have kept the DVDs purposely unopened for that reason. A man who enjoys watching Jane Austen movies...he's a keeper alright.

Woke up late this morning to the promised storm well underway. Rain has been coming in sideways -- strong, strong winds from the south -- and the tide is super high, all the way up to the base of the bluff. Big swells, too. In short, I am in bliss.

It couldn't come at a better time. I won't be sorry to see 2009 go, and I am desperately hopeful that 2010 is a much different -- much better -- year.

Not just for me, but for all of us. Whether you had a good year or a bad one, or a mixture of various proportions, I hope all good and wonderful things for each of you, and that you may be as richly blessed as you have blessed me. With your friendship, your generosity, your support, your understanding, your wisdom, your laughter.

Not sure if the storm is supposed to continue all day/night, but if it's the tiniest bit clearer, we will head out to the beach near midnight with a bottle of sparkling cider to mark the New Year. For many, many reasons, it will be the perfect end and start, and though I don't put much stock in portents and superstitions, I'm hoping the symbolism of it will have some kind of mystical effect on my upcoming year.

So here I sit at the tiny table set beneath our little cabin's window, typing away on my next book, my story notes journal and iPod at hand, with a little plate of sesame sticks and yogurt raisins for a snack until we dive into a the plethora of cheeses for our smorgasbord lunch. I am grateful.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

-- Gaelic blessing