I’m sitting here looking out at the Oregon Coast thinking about my life. I have this love affair with the Oregon Coast. It’s been going on for as long as I can remember. I have fond and not so fond memories of the beach and I think that’s why I love it so much. Love and pain go hand in hand. Good times wouldn’t be as good, if you didn’t have some bad to show you the difference.

As kids my family vacationed on the Oregon Coast a lot. My parents used to rent a cabin in Netarts.My parents spent hour’s playing cards, into the night, with my aunt and uncle. They’d talk of the game all weekend. Mom and Aunt Coral didn’t seem like cheaters to me. But the boys swore it’s the only way they won the tournament the night before. I loved their teasing. I still tease like that.

At age 10 my parents bought a place at Pacific City. We’d go there a lot. I loved the beach. There was freedom there. The sands would change but for many years the cabin was a constant in our lives.  But like shifting sands life has a way of changing and places become tainted with memories or conversations and the exact location where they happened. When I was 24 my dad sat me down, on the beach in front of our family cabin to tell me that he was divorcing my mother. In the distance the ocean was roaring but the sound couldn’t drown out the words coming out of his mouth. My parents got remarried, to each other, years later but you don’t forget those conversations. The cabin never seemed the same after that.

Kathy, our boys and I had many great years at that cabin. But we found other places on the coast we loved more. Memories are easy to rebuild and the best ones are the one’s you don’t have to work at creating they simply happen.

At age 13, the parents bought an A&W Restaurant in Seaside. Those were good years. I was coming of age and had lots of new friends to help me discover who I was and who I was not. But after three years working and living in Hillsboro and summering at the beach my parents found it was too much. We sold the restaurant and left Seaside. I hated leaving that life behind.

My favorite beach towns are Cannon Beach and Yachats. If I had to choose I’d take Yachats. Yes, it’s developing but not like the rest of the Oregon Coast. It’s landlocked so only so much can happen here. The coastline is rugged, the town small, the food great and it’s lonely here. I like lonely.  Not the kind of lonely that makes people sad. Not the kind of lonely where you see old people sitting on a bench by themselves talking to no one, but the lonely that allows us to think about what we’re all about, why we’re here and how we plan to make the most of it. Just being here with Kathy makes me happy. I find peace with her, in this place, with that ocean rumbling in the background.

There is something about the smell of the saltwater; that growling ocean and the constant wind that allows me to hear God. It’s the place where I can go and experience a peace that goes beyond understanding. The coast is a place I love so much. I’ve experienced great joy and great pain here. But that’s what love is all about. It comes on the heels of terrible loss, difficult conversations and moments of desperation. The two go hand in hand. So, Kathy and I will spend the day talking, listening, eating and end the night with a sunset and all those memories. I love it here.

When I left KEZI the end of February, I had to turn in my old car and buy a new one. Kathy and I purchased a brand new Black TSX Acura. The gas mileage and the make of the car were big concerns. We new we’d be putting a lot of miles on the car but had no idea it would be what it is.

I’m sitting at the Kendal Auto Service Center, on my laptop, two phones next to my side, waiting for my oil change. Every time I come in here they’re shocked with how many miles I’ve put on my car.

Oregon is a big state. To really meet the people you’ve got to get out of your home town and out into the rural areas and, for me, to Portland and Salem. That’s what I’ve been doing. Since March I’ve put over 11,400 miles on my car. Sure that’s a lot. But it’s worth it.  Each town we drive into is a new adventure. Each part of Oregon has a different question or concern.

You get used to all the driving or riding from place to place. You see the countryside and realize why we all choose to live here. So, I’m going back to the phones. Soon my car will be lubed and ready to go. I’ll be back in a month or two for another oil change.

Phones ringing, I have to go.