Plinky asks me to recall a memorable family vacation. Oh boy. There were lots of them. I am looking outside now and watching the flash-flood rain fall from the sky and I remember all the times we went camping and it would, inevitably rain on us. However, I think the most memorable, and horrible, of our family vacations was the time I came down with chickenpox while we were on our trip to the Oregon Coast.
I was in first grade and it was Spring Break. Our family rented a cabin near Lincoln City for a week. It was right on the beach and absolutely fabulous. I remember arriving there in the evening when it was dark out and being so excited to explore the next day. When my mom was drying my hair that evening she found the first evidence of it. The whole trip went downhill from there. At least for me. Everyone else had a great time. I got so sick. I barely left the bed. And when I did I had to use driftwood as a cane that someone found for me on the beach. I had them on the bottom of my feet and it hurt to walk.
I remember going to the Sea Lion Caves and having to sleep in the car while the entire family went, in shifts, to the caves. My mom made me a little bed in the very back of the station wagon so I would have a comfortable place to sleep, away from everyone else.
I was miserable. I finally felt better when we arrived home. Terrible timing.
I still have scars from them! And to this day I have never been to the Sea Lion Caves and I want to go.
For several years we had a Magnetic Poetry set on our refrigerator door. It was fun to throw together a poem from time to time, and it was fun to see what Raf would surprise me with. We threw the set away when we moved away from Santa Cruz and never thought to buy a new one. Until the other day, that is. They had them at Powells so I thought I would buy one for myself and indulge my inner poet.
“I don’t know…”
“A short-cut.”
What’s yours?
