H Owwwooo!!

i WISH i wrote this: (a user review from amazon.com)

"This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him. I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt. Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark."


for more hilarity check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A

thanks to Rank Novice for giving me the gift of three-moon-wolf shirt. xoxo

the ocean has been behaving herself nicely this week. here are a few blurry views as seen through my very cheap camera, complete with foggy/greasy lens, poor focus, slanted horizons and bad timing.

the water is cold, but the real struggle is psychological:

arriving at the beach in your warm car with sun streaming in through the windows is one thing, but exiting said automobile to find the sand frozen solid with frost and a 28 degree windchill in the clear air and then finding the motivation to strip off woolens and denim to don soggy cold neoprene is quite another.

whether or not one actually surfs in oregon during the winter months is almost exclusively a matter of motivation.

it looks good...

she was the kind of girl who put her coffee in a tea pot
used whole cream instead of half
traded her kisses for hand-made wool socks
taught her friends how to pickle radishes

she was the woman who woke her kids at night
brought them to the barn by oil lamp
to watch the baby goats being born
to watch mama goats licking their babies clean

she was the kind of girl who left home to defy her parents
started drinking wine from big bottles, smoking, dancing, laughing
hitchhiking with baby girls
saving dimes in canning jars for once-yearly vacations

she was the woman who drew you to the ocean
picnicked with boyfriends in the sand, cuddling up against driftwood
walked the beach bare foot
showed you how to pry mussels off rocks at low tide

because of her you breathe sea air,
sit high in a mermaid's throne:
she was the woman who led you here, unafraid of consequences
she was the kind of girl you love.

just over the next rise
you can see potential
just one last climb
one fleet movement forward

even if the turquoise-grey pulse
or the feather white horses
can't pull you
you can still place your bets with
the gold of waving dune grasses

coldness is a feeling
and also a way of being
warmth can be brewed, steeped,
pretended, made in 3 dimensions with hands

and if all else fails
(remember) water doesn't harm
it only warns, and
if not today then when?