You hear that?

I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel room which is a fantastic view of the Pacific Ocean. Walking out is a mere one hundred yards. When Bekah went to get breakfast, Lilley and I decided to go for a walk down to the shore. There is a path that leads out there, starting out concrete, then becoming gravel, and then the gravel becomes just a small narrow dirt footpath. Lil is eager to press on, she probably smells something I don't, or rather I am distracted by the smell of a slow burning pile of wood-chips. They say that smell is the strongest sense tied to memory, and right now I am remembering up north, Grandpa and Grandma's house. I inhale slowly and deeply as to take in every last detail of my memory...memories are bitter sweet. As Lil and I continue down the path there is a blend of tall beach grass, pine shrubs, and a seasoning of yellow and blue wild flowers. We approach a slight incline and I start to feel the cool breeze blowing off the crashing waves. The waves provide a dule grumble of background noise until you can see them and how fierce they actually are. The beach isn't the tan/whitish sand I am use to, it is a darker grey almost black sand speckled with rocks and pebbles. There is an angry seagul talking to me, Lil looks at him calmly, her nose moving back and forth as to capture his scent, then I wonder why I assume it is a he...so I look...I can't tell, its so much easier with dogs. I take some video of the waves to show Nate when we get to San Diego, the notice the spring in Lilley's step. Though I am not prepared for a run in any way, I take off at a sprint down the beach. I know I can barely run fast enough to let Lil open it up but she is flying. It happens in slow motion honestly, she isn't doing the medium paced trot where there is always a leg or two on the ground, she is flying. At times all legs off the ground, back legs springing her forward and front ones reaching out just as far as they'll go. I could die now in peace. I have to stop because I am just about dying and Lil is looking at me like..."seriously, that's it?" I tell her she sounds like her mom then I take a seat on a log. The things I am seeing are things I use to look at pictures of and wonder if they actually exist, the intricacy of the design and the endlessness of the wonder. I could sit and look at these waves and be in awe for years and still not have them figured out. When we were driving yesturday I was anxious and had kind of an attitude with Bekah, because she wouldn't take pictures when I asked her to. We fought about it a little bit because I was getting a little overbearing, so we sat in silence for a while, winding through mountains and tall pines, cruising along cliffs with views of the ocean. I realized I was getting anxious because I wanted her to take pictures because I didn't want to forget any of this. Honestly...I was getting anxious because I didn't want to forget any of this. How could I possibly forget even one little part of this glorious drive, this glorious beauty. I think I have a lot to learn from my wife. So today, we head south to the Redwood forest, and I am going to soak it all in, see it all, hear it all, but most importantly smell it all. Because someday I want to be walking down some path thousands of miles from here and catch a smell of this day, breath in slowly and deeply, and remember every detail.