BEAUTIFUL AND DEADLY... A RACE TO FIND OUT
The Christmas Oregon coast tradition was amazing this year. We stayed near Port orford and the house was a great layout in the woods a couple blocks from the ocean but this year there were historic sized "King Tides" so in some places the beach sand was gobbled up by the tide and waves. It wasn't that the waves were any taller than other times I've been there it was that they were crashing so much it was just non stop the last couple days. It was mesmerizing to watch (which we did)
new this year was the fun activity of running away from the waves... Which isn't new per-se but the activity of doing it more than a few times for seemingly hours was new because my great friend brought her 3 kids and my sister's teenager loved doing it as well so we raced back and forth again and again. And queue the king tide... Because of that the racing from the waves was a bigger deal than any beach day I have been to. First of all the water would go in and out quite a ways in places like a good 10 second run not the 1-2 second dodge like usual. And second of all what we were running from was essentially deadly because if it swept you in it wasn't like normal days or normal beaches it would have taken you out and unlike surf videos floating around there was no jetski waiting to rescue and the water temp would have zapped the energy. The waves weren't huge but they were crashing almost every second so if someone went out past the first one game over there was no reprieve.
So yeah big stakes... So why do it? Frist of all I felt in control and I really asked myself this and made sure I wasn't doubting myself because I had to make sure with little kids around. There is a border that goes from fun to dumb fast... I'm sure you have seen it many of times in things you've all done or seen where one step further turns that jumping on the trampoline from a fun activity to a visit to the emergency room or that extra 50ft a nice view of the moose for your shot to a stupid flirtation with death. Like when I have done photography of canyon countries next to the cliffs and I assess right here is an amazing shot and one more step is reckless and deadly ... Push yourself to do hard things and don't be scared but that's because you know what you're capable of... Well I have had a few experiences to help me understand this... What about kids how do THEY figure this out? What are they capable of?
They race the waves and sometimes they're nice little summer day tourist beaches and sometimes it is a king tide beach day in the cold Pacific where yes the stakes are higher and the run is longer. The hope is that when you're doing this you are not alone and someone is not doing it for you and giving you this sense that it's just you making your way in the world ... BUT the reality is I was keenly aware of what was happening to the people around me and watching those sets of waves like a fox out of the corner of my eye most of them behaved themselves and then every so often one would jump out and ready to run over and help a little kid. And you know what they were tough as nails for their age and it was so cool to see... It's like kids and their skateboarding or trampoline they did fall and that is scary and dang cold, they either didn't calculate correctly how far up the shore the wave would throw out it's water or because the water coming out at you that day doesn't look big but it just keeps coming and knocks you down even on the retreat when you're just standing there thinking all is well. I had to pick up a couple kids that fell to their knees... And then they got back up and after a few tears (from shock of defeat...or cold) they did it again and that was AWESOME.
And yes a local guy did come over to put a little healthy fear into our hearts telling stories that didn't end so well and you could tell because he knew nothing of our judgement and rescue skills it made him so nervous... And yes there was my 16yr old nephew who was going way further and really flirting with danger. And let's talk about that .. how growing men seem to have this siren call that beckons them to put themselves in harms way. To dance up one the line between ease/order/comfort and danger/chaos... Seemingly to really find out who they are and what they're made of. While so much we hear about people taking time to understand who they are and sometimes from inward contemplation or sometimes a trip to Europe or sometimes meditation and alone time ... All of which I'm huge fans of for people... But it seems part of the process that you spend the time building your knights armor and then you go slay a few little monsters that still fight back and give you a lashing but you don't just immediately jump to the big daddy dragon who's lived 300 years tormenting the villagers. You figure which class of rapid you're comfortable on in your packraft and you do it plenty and you start aiming not for the easy route but the hardest route in the river and you seek out those waves to surf your kayak in and you find a little hole to get stuck in and you realize it may flip you... But eventually you have to leave that river and find a bigger one ... But why? Because what are you really made of you won't find it there anymore... You NEED to have that safe place to retreat to for your emotions and that certain thing that grounds you from the waves that knock you to the ground... And you get yourself ready again... For what? For the waves that's what it's for... Last year I did a class 4 situation I wasn't ready for after my measly one year of packrafting... I had a couple techniques my body hadn't figured out yet and then after that I stopped going bigger and bigger and kind of settled down to taking dozens of friends to the easy ones and the thirst for bigger was gone... I was taking my time and polishing up but I'm not gonna stand still forever or give up. I'm also hoping some of those 40 people I took to the river last year want to move on this next year and gradually move to the bigger things a little out of their comfort but also not metaphorically too close to the king tide waves that it could be their last. Where it makes you scared but you know you're bigger and stronger than that river and you know you have someone who is capable of helping you back to your knees if you get sucker punched like a 9yr old gal and then just need a long warm hug and to be told they have every right to cry from the cold and the shock. And then just look in amazement when they eventually go dip their toes again.
What the 4,7,9 year old was doing was not scary to me so long as I was 1 second from them or their extremely capable rockstar mother... But then what my 16yr old nephew was doing getting constantly drenched and pounded by the break was actually nerve wracking ... Because?? Because the kids had people who could handle their situation they were putting themselves in (each one of them kinda put themselves in varying degrees like the 4yr old was much higher up the beach and much closer to the adult) but who did my nephew have he was purposely far in and purposefully far from me ... He didn't have someone to pick him up. So yeah when we see someone do something beyond our ability to rescue and protect we feel a whole different way about that situation... Kind of like that local who went far out of his way to tell us what we were doing wasn't right because as an old man he saw it from his capabilities and from the local stories. And actually I saw It a bit more like him... And also I wanted to do other things on the beach so was glad for a break was just hoping the nephew would take a break as well because now I would be even farther.
Maybe my pictures don't do it justice and this post started off honestly just a post about the pretty locations and turned into something totally different so the pictures don't fully match the story ... But it was fun... And now I need to go ... And I didn't even bother to do anything but a stream of consciousness draft and there are so many writing mistakes I'm sure... But whatever... Who even made it to the end?? Haha
But if you did what is the thing for you ... Where do you put yourself to know who you are and what you're capable of and have to think long about where that border is between instructive pain and danger and don't take another step. Where do you go to see the border or order and chaos?
For example this wave came in and probably went 100ft onto the shore and deleted my cool art work i did.
What an absolutely beautiful landscape. These photos are stunning.
amazing!
Que mar tan bello...parece enfurecido.
Being near the power of the oceans will sometimes release thoughts that we have bubbling in our subconscious and bring them to the top of mind, it's good to get them out.
Walking along the beach is something I do a lot, we do have the best beaches down under, but I am biased, fantastic photo's BTW.
Beautiful place and amazing shots!
!discovery 25
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Glad that I gave this a read. I even made it to the end.
I go wherever the spirit moves me.
Gorgeous!
😁
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