The Coastal Welcoming Committee

Not far from this area is a nice long sandy beach that has its own welcoming committee...

 

 

You don't have to hunt for them...

they'll find you!

And they don't come bearing gifts to welcome you to their fair city

(but would love you to bring them some).

 

 

They're also not known for being shy--

in fact quite the opposite could be said about them.

 

 

In our numerous trips down to the sandy shorelines of Oregon I've seen

elk,

horses,

dogs, various seabirds,
a whale...
and not too long ago--
a baby otter--
(did I forget to post my photos of it?)

but this was definitely a first.

 

 

I have a feeling it won't be our last time here

(after all there's a pirate 'ship' here too...)

 

 

one that even comes equipped with play slides, a ship's bell and more.

 

 

Just a little ways from here I went to a summer camp...

I don't remember any squirrels at that camp--

although I do vaguely remember having to be towed back to a certain dock

when I couldn't get our canoe back there

(since it's a 'vague' recollection, maybe it was just a bad dream--lol).

The camp however was not a dream and it still exists to this day.

 

 

Actually thinking about camp reminds me of s'mores

(is there such a thing as a gluten-free s'more?),

campfires,

rides along the beach

and being young.

 

 

It is normal to think about your youth so much when you get older?

Perhaps it's the stressful, sad times of this current time that make me look back upon those days

with so much fondness.

Perhaps.

 

 

It seemed to be a whole different world then--

a kinder, gentler place.

Yes, there were sad, horrible, stressful times back then too.

But still, it seemed to be a much more innocent time when one didn't hear the sort of news

we hear on a sometimes weekly basis now.

Makes one's heart weary and sad.

 

At the young age of 17,

 I arrived in the 'Emerald City'...

a whole different place then where I had grown up in.

It was there,

in this beautiful city in the Puget Sound,

that I would roam a tree covered campus,

watch the ducks swim by on the many waterways of the area

and eat the best ice cream ever at a place near the University of Washington

(Go Huskies)!

It was there I would fall in love with a certain 'Needle' that stretches into the sky

and it was there that I would hear Corrie ten Boom speak.

 

It was there a note would lead me to change the spelling of my name permanently

and it was there where so many memories were made--

memories to last a lifetime.

But sadly it was also there where a man chose to take life this last week.

 

Prayers and much love to the families of my beloved alma mater.

May God be with you during this time and those to come;

may God be with our nation and its people.

Dona nobis pacem.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Rockaway Beach, Oregon