Real Life, by Sheila Taylor
Tuesday, March 2, 2004Weekend at the Beach
Well, life at L&C has suddenly become very busy...Every time I think I have a spare moment, I realize that I don’t. This is pretty typical of Spring Semester…there’s just so much going on that you want to be a part of, and the weather starts brightening up, but yet, you still find yourself indoors, stuck behind the keyboard, scratching out an essay or cramming for an exam. And then you realize, that there’s only 2 month till you graduate, and that just makes things even more complicated, because the sun has triggered the onset of Senioritis…
Well, maybe it’s the weekend that I just spent at the beach, or Spring Break plans that are actually what have me itching for the end, I’m not sure.
Anyway, yeah, went to the beach this weekend with my fellow Platt-Howard RA staff members for our spring retreat. We were just north of Newport, in a cute little condo unit with a view of the ocean and a couple of hot tubs. We didn’t do a whole lot, just sat around and relaxed…no real structure like our last retreat, just some serious relaxation. While the weather in Portland was drizzly, we enjoyed clear skies in Newport on Saturday, which was much appreciated. We ventured out to the beach and climbed around on a bunch of cool rocks and saw a bunch of little barnacles, muscles, and sea anemones. We were hoping for starfish, but alas, we only found 1, and no one could get very close to him because of his position on the rocks, so we admired him from a distance. He probably preferred it that way anyway. The beach was awesome, and I took a bazillion pictures. Yeah, 72 counts as a bazillion. I’m telling ya, these digital cameras are DANGEROUS! If I ever go back to film, I’ll have to declare bankruptcy due to film and development prices. Anyway, so Saturday night, some of us went over to the hot tub and outdoor heated pool, which was a lot of fun too. I can’t swim, but I found a kid’s blow-up ring and used it as a kickboard, so I had a good time. We took off on Sunday, but I went back with the late group, so we didn’t actually leave till we had re-visited the beach. We went to a different area, and we found this really interesting tree, where people had tied all of the beach debris that had washed up onto the limbs. And then nearby was the most driftwood I had ever seen in my life, all piled up where the beach ends and the rest of the land begins. Either Sara or Joe said that it was like a tree burial ground…it really was. While climbing on the driftwood, we found this little unmarked path leading back up to the main ground, so we decided to be adventurous and explore it. Much more exciting than returning the way we had come. We returned to the van and bid the ocean farewell, and got back to Portland sometime around 7:30 or 8 pm…which left just enough time to finish up my homework and climb into bed to sleep for like 6 hours.
And now I am back to the routine of school, but I’m not sure that that’s where I want to be. Too many deadlines are approaching too quickly, and I feel like I’m not accomplishing enough. But I guess that’s pretty typical for Spring Semester.
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