Mother's Day, Part II

Yesterday Mom and I saged the house. I brought home some White Sage, and we spread it through the rooms with many blessings. Then we headed out into the neighborhood and spread blessings as we waved the sage at our homes, sidewalks, gardens, alleys, you name it. We passed that lovely chalk drawing with Ella's name in cursive, and we saged the drawing, and on our return loop through the neighborhood we saw -- in front of Ella's home -- a young mother getting something from her car, with a little girl, maybe two years old, standing next to her. We waved hello, and Mom called, "Is that Ella?" and the mother nodded, and I said, "We love the chalk drawing!"

Today we woke up and headed to Toledo/Newport to spend the day with Tara, Brad, Nancy (Brad's mom), and Peggy (Brad's aunt). We ate a delectable brunch, and then Tara, Mom, and I headed out to take a hike down this very cool path through the woods to the ocean. Tara said it's her favorite. We wove through the trees, caught glimpses of the lighthouse out on the cliff, and emerged out onto the beach. The tide was starting to come in, and Tara and I -- in respect to one of her favorite rituals -- collected starfish that had washed up, still alive, and were waiting for the waters to bring them home. Some would have gone back with the tides, and some had washed too far up. So we gathered them, about fifteen total, and brought them back to the pools of water that would whisk them to safety. They felt so strong and resilient and scratchy and beautiful in my hands.

Mom and I took Hwy 18 home, and at the same time at one point said, "That's the house with the garage sale!" Back when Mom came to visit me in Corvallis, and we went down to the Redwoods and then returned, we stopped at a hippie's garage sale with some very cool stuff. He gave us this white albino plastic rabbit, which I adore and keep in a special place on my shelf -- his name, of course, is Silas (for all you Da Vinci Code fans out there). It was wonderful to catch sight of that house at the same time!

I feel rested, that breeze from the ocean still on my cheeks, memories of the starfish in my palms.