Meanwhile on the Other Coast…

SignA

It’s funny how different our lives are yet at the same time how they occasionally seem to intersect. We go regularly to the West coast of Vancouver Island and when I saw this warning I began to think of just how close our lives are to one another in some aspects. I thought of Jim on his rock with his sign and I began to think of the things that bind people like all of us together. Not just cynicism but an appreciation of the most basic and elemental of things like family, friendship, love and especially truth…

SurfATime

Each morning finds us staring out into the vast expanse of the Pacific. My daughter, now 12, reminds me that she no longer needs my help with her board.

“I can handle my own gear Dad.”

She reminds me of my place in time. Like the countless waves that beat against the shore my part in this piece of her life has come and gone. I no longer accompany her out into the surf and hold her still, waiting, instructing, coaching and launching her safely back towards shore. She carries her own board out into the waves and bobs with red top, waiting and watching patiently before turning and paddling with all she’s got to harness the energy and power of a wave that promises to either deliver her back to me or burry her beneath its mass.

Each time she fails she comes back up for air and collects herself then mounts her board for another round. She reminds me of Sexton’s daughter who instead of calling on mum calls on God. No longer helpless but strong enough to call on her own will I am struck, for the first time, by the beauty of it all and somehow my place begins to make sense.

 

Shelter

Shelter

Back in town we find Shelter from the coming storm. Overlooking the harbour from the deck our families discuss the world and its problems while consuming fresh muscles until we can eat no more. The music plays softly in the background while foreign tourists come and go with their camera’s dangling from their necks, looking strangely out of place but welcome non the less in our secret little corner in an out of the way spot on the edge of the world.

Everything I see and watch back home, truly not that far away, seems to be almost surreal when we are here. We speak of politics and current events as though they were merely hypothetical then laugh when we realize that from here, if it all burned tonight, we might not really notice. At least not for a while, and this seems to bring comfort to all. As the sun begins to set we draw our chairs closer to one another and order another round of drinks and another pot of muscles. The wait staff turn on the heaters and the deck is warmed by the camaraderie of a dozen conversations.

 

Sky

Peace

Later, after dinner is finished we hit the beach where the kids sit around the fire wrapped in towels and blankets while the adults sit nearby sipping their drinks and simply staring upwards. One of the dads begins to name the constellations overhead as they slowly appear and the youngest amongst us begin to doze. Somewhere down the beach in the dark someone launches a sky lantern to the “ooh’s and ahh’s” of the kids as the waves on the shore in our little cove begin to pick up momentum and keep a steady rhythm in concert with the crackling of the fire. I hold my wife’s hand and look deep into the flames as dinner, the darkness and sleep begin to assert themselves over my sunburned and tired body. “It’s time for bed” I tell the kids. Some will have to be carried back to their cottages. The older ones will dance and prance and speak of tomorrow, of which beach, which stretch, and how many runs they will make before it’s time, once again, to return home.

 

Beach

Gratitude

Goodbye. Goodbye. We had such a wonderful time. Goodbye. See you soon.

We hug one another, shake hands and herd children. With the Jeep loaded to the hilt the kids pile in. We are red faced and the sand spills from every nook and cranny of the vehicle and our gear. Home is a great place, one I am grateful for but so too are remote places with close friends. Each time we leave we speak of living here but then I wonder, “Where would we go to escape?” and I am grateful for our time and the people we love. Truly, as the man once said, “What more could you ask for?”. Nothing I suppose as I turn the key and point the wheels back towards home. Another grain of sand on an endless beach and another summer come and gone. As are we. And that’s all right…

-30-

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Stucky

Hey, this is a better place to tell a family story.

So, we went to a wedding in Eaton PA on Saturday. We’ve known Hans&Lilly, and their son Ralph for over 55 years, they were our very first friends in America. Lilly has a sister Irma. We never really liked her. Irma’s daughter is Irene. So, in summary — me, Ralph, and Irene are all the same age. We (my parents and myself) have not seen Irma&Irene in over 50 years … cuz we didn’t like them.

Soooo, Ms Freud, my parents, and myself walk into the wedding hall. We are immediately greeted by Ralph who immediately walks us over to Irma&Irene … whom we haven’t seen in over 50 years cuz we don’t like them. Did I mention that? Oh My!! The fake smiles and distant hugging was a sight to behold!! My parents should have gotten a fucken Oscar. In this hilarious moment of happy-family-shit I completely forgot about Ms Freud so, my mom introduces her to Irma. And Irma says to Ms Freud, — “Is he (meaning, me) still a bad person?” — and she says this without smiling or anything, and then looks away. WTF???

Well, I’m not letting this drop. Fast forward about an hour, and we are sitting at the same dinner table. As nonchalantly as I can muster I ask Irma — “What did you mean when you asked Ms Freud if I was still a bad person?”. She said, “Don’t you remember what you did to Irene?” Huh?? Did I fuck her, I wondered. Nah, I was only about 6 years old. “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She then proceeds to tell me how I pushed Irene down the stairs from their 2nd story apartment, and Irene was so badly bruised and bleeding they had to rush her to the hospital. Ho Lee Shit. I had no idea.

Then Ralph jumps in with a story. That very same year it seems I pushed Ralph out the window of their first story apartment. He also was rushed to the doctor with a broken arm. Ho Lee Shit. I had no idea. I look at my mother and ask her if these stories are true. She nods and says, “Yes, you were a problem child.” Ho Lee Fuk. What a fun time. I felt like choking my chicken right there at the table.

When you combine these two stories with the fact that I used to make my seester sob uncontrollably by pulling the legs off ants and then taunting her with “awww, now that poor mommy ant won’t be able to feed her children” (really), well, I gotta wonder –am I fucking psychopath, or what? Maybe I should convert to Islam, the religion of peace seems suitable to my personality.

Maggie
Maggie

I recommend you present yourself at the local colonoscopy clinic for a full body cleanse.

Stucky

I recommend you murder more bunnies today.

Maggie
Maggie

I am going to do JUST that. I have 6 little bunnies coming of age today, which is Nick’s birthday. I told him that we would have fresh grilled rabbit for his birthday. Now, it is time for me to start the charcoal and do the deed.

(Note: “Do the deed” doesn’t mean the same thing it did when we were dating or first married.)

Administrator

Now I’m really glad you never made it to my house to beat me up.

3rd Generation
3rd Generation

You should run for political Office immediately. . .

Have a Great Week !

overthecliff
overthecliff

Politics? Those people would devour a naive lamb like Stucky.

nkit
nkit

Damn, Damien. Did you start houses on fire too?

Stucky

Do attempts count? When I was about 12 they put up a house in the lot directly next to us. They chopped down the tree with my tree house. I did not like this. I broke several windows to get inside, and then set some wood on fire in the basement. I got caught — even got hauled off to the police station — but was let go because I was a minor. The “minor” shit did not stop my dad from administering some rather severe justice.

Ed
Ed

New Jersey vacation
comment image

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Just from your writings here on TBP, I’d vote for fucking psychopath. But so are the rest of us sorry fucks. Why else would we be hanging out here?

Llpoh
Llpoh

Sounds like you were a complete little prick. You almost killed two of their family. I guess you REALLY did not like them.

Trying to burn down a house at 12? Holy shit. You deserved “severe justice”. Kudos to your dad.

Did Mrs. Freud gave anything to say, maybe along the lines of “well, that explains a lot”?

I got into my share of trouble, for sure. And me and buddies did burn down a barn. An accident, but that did not prevent the ass whuppin I got.

BTW – maybe next time someone says “Is he still a bad person?” you ought to let it slide. No telling what stories are still out there you have forgotten.

Stucky

“Each time we leave we speak of living here but then I wonder, “Where would we go to escape?”

—————-

When you live in paradise, why would you want to escape?

Yesterday we were watching a travel show — an hour long special on a small Polynesian island, Anuta. Small as in 1/2 mile long by 1/4 mile wide!! 300 people live there. Ms Freud said she would get island fever the moment she stepped off the boat. And I said the only thing they really worry about is a big typhoon wiping them out. Other than that, they have few other worries. Now compare that to us! heh heh.

susanna

Gosh Stucky,
Are you still a bad person?
Likely not, but you were a raucous child.
I hope no one remembers what I all did as a youngster.
Lord of the Flies.

Unscheduled
Unscheduled

Enjoyed this piece FM. It is a beautiful thing when “time away” becomes more like “away from time”. It is also great how the memories last as long we do.

bb

Francis Marion , it is strange how simple things take on much meaning when you know for sure you’re going to DIE. The beauty of God’s creation can be overwhelming at times. When I was in the hospital with pneumonia I didn’t think about world affairs , money or who would win the presidential election but I did reexamine my whole life .I thought about God ,Heaven and wondering if I would ever see old friends again.You know , simple stuff.

Stucky

If you get into heaven then God needs a psychiatrist.

You would be better off preparing for Satan, hell, and blowing me for all eternity.

bb

Stucky , the question isn’t that you did those things but did you ever have any guilt or remorse for doing those things. You can say you didn’t remember but I think that’s B S .You just told those people you didn’t remember so as to have a quick way out of having to apologize for doing those things.Don’t worry , I drown 5 kittens when I was 4 years old. I still remember holding them under water .Why would a 4 year old child kill innocent kittens ????

Bea Lever
Bea Lever

Stucky- I have suspected a troubled youth with the masturbation problem. In the south we have a saying that there is nothing meaner than cat shit, we will now have to revise that to include you. That said, I think in reality you are a decent caring person. 🙂

RiNS

FM

A great piece. I have always found that a chair by the ocean is a great place to sit and contemplate. The other night I sat reading Brave New World, a book bleak in portrayal of world we are headlong rushing towards.

What the world will be like 100 or 1000 years from now?
What will they think of us and all our intrigues big and small?
Will time have everything fade to insignificance?
It soon became apparent that beach wasn’t a good place to read a dark book.

A fishing boat then passed filled with folks out on water for fun and sun.

After it passed the book was put away.

Swam instead
Time better spent

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

Rob,

Having swum off of Cape Cod, I can only imagine how cold the ocean is there. Probably like Lake Superior. Concave scrotum comes to mind.

RiNS

Iska

The Northumberland has the warmest waters north of Carolinas. Not like Cuba but 20 celsius is plenty warm for a hardy Canuck. The great thing about beach near my home, it’s about 8 km drive, is most days there is hardly another soul there to share it with. If your quick one doesn’t even need to bring a change of clothes.

🙂

RiNS

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James the Wanderer

Children do awful things BECAUSE they are children. They don’t yet know (or haven’t internalized) the pain of others being the same as their own. If you don’t have a reference point, you do not know how to behave.
Your misbehavior as a child does not bother me. Misbehavior of adults does.
Childish misbehavior?
– playing “doctor” with a cousin
– tampering with a vending machine
– throttling a campmate about halfway there
– minor shoplifting
– trying to get the principal removed from office in high school for using band funds to buy the basketball team a van to reach “away” games (the band raised the money but somehow he claimed authority over it)
I like to think that by late high school / early college I became enough of a human being to qualify as “worth the gunpowder to blow him to hell”, but there are days I’m not sure. If you STILL threw people downstairs, out windows and set fires arbitrarily I’d be worried. If you’re looking for absolution you need to look inside. If you’re looking for righteous condemnation, well, see the list above, I’m out of the business.
Best of luck with figuring out whether you’re sufficiently human or not. Do you feel like telling anyone else how to live their lives? That’s the fastest DISQUALIFIER I know of.

Peaceout
Peaceout

Francis – Loved this post. One of our favorite places to travel to is Tofino, love the beach, the scenery, the solitude, the community and especially the people. It takes some effort to get there but it is worth every minute when you finally arrive. It has been interesting to watch the area evolve from a quiet fishing village into a surfing mecca. Only wish we had time to visit more often. It is one of those places that you could fall off the grid and not really care what is going on with the rest of the world. Some day.

Vodka
Vodka

I would need a neoprene suit to swim those waters. Even La Jolla beach seemed “cold” to me. Keeps the riff-raff away, I suppose.

@Stucky
The little brats probably had it coming.

hardscrabble farmer

God that was a beautiful piece, thank you for sharing it with us.

I remember watching a show about gold prospectors and how they would look for places where the bend in the stream would act as a repository for the heavier pieces of gold to accumulate, a glory hole they called it. This place is a lot like that- the Internet is this seething river of dross, always full of nothing and then there’s this little glory hole of deep thought, introspection and extremely fine writing that never fails to deliver.

And I thought that I’d had an exceptional day before I sat down to read this.

Jj3
Jj3

Ummm… How many people did you kill to get so many muscles to eat? Fine story except for the cannibalism.

Boat Guy

I find swimming in the ocean the best medicine along with sunsets ove the back bays over a few adult beverages . This was a relaxing piece of peace to share to forget about the real world shitstorm for a while . We already pulled a few weekends an a week away like that ,one more week coming then back to real reality ! Sadly we will not be singing comby ya or any other such nonsense because sooner or later the storm is coming and Trump , Hillary , Obama and 574 shit for brains representatives will be in some well to do guarded compound while the rest of us eat shit ! I know fuck me , I ruin everything with a dose of reality !

KaD
KaD

Every once in a while you see the real spirit of America, the entrepreneurship and enterprise, still shine through: http://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/playing-outdoors/article90965002.html

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