Ancestral grounds...

“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say -- and to feel -- ''Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You're not as alone as you thought.''

~ John Steinbeck
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Took another trip to the coast on Monday with Marty. A rainy morning, cold, windy at the ocean...

Another visit to Heceta Head's north side Hobbit Beach. We first hiked up to the top of the ridge -- without the cameras because the rain was still falling pretty good -- along the lighthouse trail, a walk we hadn't done. What a nice trail. Uphill but with enough switchbacks that the slope wasn't too bad. Some great views through the trees, the ocean a constant sound as it crashed against the rocks, we found the ridge to be a wonderful place, a quiet place with an ancient grove of twisted and forked Sitka Spruce giving the place a timeless feel.

We had a great conversation about these kinds of places, how they give the sense of being out of time, of being in a place that has been as it is for millenia, of seeing it as hundreds of generations before us have seen it. And that sense of the ancient is very real, as we are ancient beings as well. As I said in the previous Perfix post, we all share a history of being indigenous -- native to some place -- that is special and revered. And standing among those old, old Spruce trees we knew that at one time, probably dating back to the days before the Europeans brought their boots stomping to this continent, that these trees were mere sprouts.

And when we got to the beach, we had it to ourselves. And that was no wonder as it was windy, a cold, biting north wind...

And being alone allowed that sense of seeing a place, especially a place as primordial as a beach, as it has been seen since... well... forever. The great sci-fi writer Piers Anthony covered the issue of ancestral memory (which I do believe in and suspect might be where that feeling of reincarnation arises from) in his books Orn, Chthon and others.

Here are a few pics from yesterday's hike. Enjoy!

































































As aways, any of MY images posted here are for sale as prints, or use commercially. NPOs can use fee-free, with permission. All images © Allan Erickson