Down Time

I am in my post-Christmas peace time, doing nothing all day. We are visiting family who take such complete care of us, I don't have to do anything. It is like taking Christmas afternoon when everyone sits around reading new books or instructions for figuring out new toys, periodically picking at the ham in the kitchen or popping sugar cookies, and extending it out for days. That has been the picture. Doing nothing but zoning out, hanging out and spacing out. I knit a scarf for no one in particular and read a National Geographic cover to cover. Other than that, I have eaten and slept.

Today we drove out to Point Reyes and looked at the mighty Pacific. The sky was gray but the hills were florescent green all the way out. There were stands of Coastal Cypress trees all tall, dark and handsome, and lots and lots of the little coastal deer lazing around as if they've never had any reason to run. Big hawks were hanging out on phone lines, fence posts and tree branches, outnumbering the buzzards. We drove to the end and Grace and I got out of the car and climbed up the little road to the light house. From there you can look down on unadulterated coastline that stretches for miles. It is a gorgeous flat sandy beach with nothing on it, and cliffs along the edge with nothing but rolling green above. There was huge surf making long white lines of foam that floated back out to sea and broke up to look like pods of whales might be making them from below. We didn't see whales but they were out there.

I didn't bring my camera or a sketch pad or notebook. I just soaked it up. There was nothing to do. The endless view of gray on gray with the lighthouse's lonely fog horn and the crashing of waves on rocks far below was enough.