The Beach

When my family moved here from Iowa almost (OH MY GOD) twenty years ago I didn't really know anything about Washington. I knew it was on the west coast.

I thought it would be like California (which I had also never seen but knew about from TV and the Sweet Valley High books) only north.

My dad promised us a pool (still hasn't delivered because HI, it rarely gets over seventy degrees here) and I thought my sister and I would spend our summers by the beach.

This is the beach by my house. Not exactly sand-filled paradise I imagined at nine. It is rocky. Kind of cold and foggy. But check it out. CHERRIES GROW ON THE BEACH HERE.

My parents have a lot of what ifs about moving here. They worry about the crappy educations we got, the cost of living here. But beyond the fact that I cannot imagine what my life would be like (no J, no job in the industry I am in), I can't really imagine not living in this gorgeous place.

I'm spending the day bleaching my fucking bathroom and kitchen prepping for my best friend who is visiting this weekend. I am beyond excited. If anyone ever deserved a weekend of drinking and talking and eating melted cheese while quoting lines from Waiting to Exhale it is me.

And I bet at least some of those chats take place on the beach.