There are some places that are so decidedly Oregon that when I'm there, I'm reminded that I'll always be a visitor in my own state.
I'm reminded of what Oregon is, and what I am not.
But I'm also reminded that no matter the place, the town, or the state, no matter who you are or where you're from, the ocean is in charge.
The ocean is why you're there.
The ocean decides.
And it doesn't care who you are.
It doesn't care about what you know or don't know.
It wakes you from sleep and lures you to the foggy shoreline anyway.
And it not only makes you feel welcome, but familiar and commonplace.
Like you belong there, too.
The town may change, the scenery may change, but the ocean remains the same.
The feeling is the same.
And as the kids grow bigger and run a little bit faster in the sand, I'm reminded that they aren't visitors to their own state.
Every once in a while I remember that this is their own state.
But as many times as I've sat on this same sand, welcomed by this same ocean and this same sky,
It still feels foreign to me, this place.
No matter how many pictures I have of the Oregon beach at sunset.
