Our first destination along the coast was Point Reyes, the beginning for us of our American Discovery Trail journey. We never really saw Point Reyes The first time around, given that we started in driving rain with the temperature in the forties. This time around we had clear blue skies and hot weather. There was only enough sea breeze to let you know you were by the ocean.
The weather was not the only difference. When we arrived at Limantour Beach in 2011 Ky’s minivan was the only one in the parking lot and we were the only people anywhere along the miles of beach. Now the parking lot was full and people thinly lined the beach, body surfing, flying kites,even riding horses. Cindy and I sat on the beach while Charissa combed the shore for rocks and shells. Her childlike delight with beach combing hinted at a time twenty years ago as a family.
I absorbed the calming effects of the ocean; I needed that. Most of my life I’ve been an active, adventurous person. The joy of walking was the joy of briskly tackling a mountain, letting the beta-endorphins flood through me with their natural high when I reached a viewpoint or the top of a ridge. In opposition to my father the seafarer I portrayed myself as forever the mountain man.
Yet sitting by the shore of Point Reyes I now found different longings being satisfied: the longing for calm; the longing for peace; the longing for burdens drifting off my shoulders with the sea breeze. I could imagine myself in a new life that involved a kayak rather than a backpack.
That new life would have to wait for now. I must do my best to make the most of what remains with this one.
