I'm still taking my time as I go down the coast - keeping the mileage down to have time to check things out (and surf, of course). I had a fun surf session (see below - Kari) despite the colder weather and clouds that came in and an amazing coincidence occurred (below - Yana).
I wanted to call out the log as it was an extremely comfortable meditation bench. It's pretty awesome to start the day with Tai Chi Chuan and meditation on the beach.
People:
Kari
Kari is ultra-mellow and cool. She works in a local bakery and is one of the few surfers in the area (she mentioned that she is often the only person out where she surfs). Kari leaves her boards out by her car after a session to go skate and doesn't worry about it.... She has big 'ole holes in her wetsuit and doesn't worry about it.... She lends her surfboard to a random cyclist who happen to be passing through and doesn't worry about it. I borrowed the pelican board in the photo (she also had another longboard with her and she rode that). It was a toss up between using the longboard or my surfmat since I've been having so much fun with the surfmat, but the waves looked mushy so opted for the board. I didn't think it looked good enough to surf but Kari convinced me it'd be rideable and it indeed was. After the session, she went off on her skateboard to warm up a bit (leaving her boards by her car) and I headed south....
Yana
Yana was 'just walking' (along the freeway) when I asked. We started talking briefly and then I noticed that she was wearing the hat I lost earlier in my trip (about a week ago, at the north end of the state!). I mentioned it to her as I thought it was so neat (it was a sailing cap that I don't think they sell up in OR so that's why I noticed it). Yana tried to give it back to me but I showed her how I already bought a new hat and I couldn't wear two, so I insisted she keep it and was just glad it was being put to good use. We chatted a bit more and jusr before I left she reached in to her purse and gave me the neat heart pendant she made from wire. I thought it was super nice as I don't think Yana has much - she recently ditched her car and then ditched her bike and also lost all of her teeth. It reminded me of a conversation in Ashland about how folks with the least are often the most generous. It's making me think about how I can be more generous in my life.
Jim + Bonnie
I was speaking with them as I was writing in my journal at a campsite. I really liked how they figured out how to get community support for local environmental issues. There was a river damming project that was quite far along (enough that influential people thought it was a done deal). Jim organized a concert to rally the community around stopping the dam - which was so effective that they were able to kill the dam project. Jim and Bonnie organized these concerts around the country for similar issues. I think it's a great example of getting people together in a positive way to drive positive results.
Jean (not pictured) - was talking to me as I was packing up (she was using her metal detector). I enjoyed hearing about her retirement community and she was very energetic in manner and expression, which was fun. She did relay a very scary viewpoint on why her Christianity allows her to not be that concerned about the impact we are having on the environment though (because it will all be renewed at the second coming). This trip has highlighted again many of the concerns I have held for years about our environment (I studied environmental engineering in undergrad and grad school due to these concerns), but I had never heard this view before and it kind of floored me.
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