Notes From the Bedside Table

Home from a way too short vacation in beautiful Bandon-by-the-Sea where we went to watch our nieces graduate from high school.

It poured buckets of rain until we hit the Coburg hills. We watched vast swathes of rain fall in sheets across the chartreuse and pine colored hills- watched rain come falling across the grass, which changed color from maroon to teal, depending on the rain and the direction of the wind. So beautiful. As long as we could drive between the rainfalls.

It was clear and sunny and very windy the rest of the drive. There were lots of elk in the refuge outside of Reedsport, many RVs on the road, and I love the drive between Drain and Reedsport. It was a pleasure to finish the 9 hour drive and still be in daylight, an exquisite view from our hotel, and a relaxing evening with the family.

We slept with the windows wide open, the roar of the waves comforting to me. I was so excited to hear the frogs out in the fields on the other side of the hotel: on the water side of the hotel: waves; on the street side of the hotel: frogs.

My mom lived back in the woods, just inside Bandon's city limits, blocks (and a stiff climb down) from the beach, and had a small, well-hidden, pond on her property. The frogs would be so loud that I could hear them through the phone when we talked. OVER the sound of the ocean. I LOVE the sounds of Bandon. It reminds me of home (I-90 is a poor substitute).

So, the girls graduated and were herded onto a bus for the secret graduation night trip, their sister, Kalayna, came home for the event and we went out for drinks with her and her parents and their partners and had weak drinks and oysters we didn't order and I tried really hard not to think about Seattle.

We walked on the beach, we ate at the Minute Cafe because Lloyd's was closed, we went to Coos Bay and North Bend for old time's sake, and Dennis played his guitar and I read Beautiful Darkness, the sequel to Beautiful Creatures. We slept SO hard and woke with the sun. Low tide every morning, gulls on the deck begging for us to hand them something to eat, our pockets full of rocks and agates.

We drove home, after visiting Ann and Henry Cooper in Otis, Oregon, after eating the mussels he harvested for dinner, and it took us only another 5 hours to do it. We went the long way along highway 99 and were accompanied by a sliver of the moon and Venus once we hit Washington. The sky was finally completely dark when we rounded the hill heading north into Olympia, just about 10:45. Home again at 11:30 pm. I am so glad I took today off.

(Beautiful Darkenss is by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Both books are published by Little Brown. B.D. will be available on October 26, 2010 for $17.99. It is really good.)