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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2015)
PRESENCE S Coastal Life Story by MATT LOVE “It was beautiful in a post card sort of way, but I much prefer mushy gray and rain and know many others share my preference.” onny the old husky and I made a pit stop at Neahkahnie Beach in Manzanita on a Friday. We were cruising south down the glorious Ore- gon Coast and wanted an early start to beat the unprecedented summer WUDI¿FRQ86+LJKZD\ It was 7 in the morning, and the sun lit up the waves, sand and crisp cloudless blue sky. It was beautiful in a post card sort of way, but I much prefer mushy gray and rain and know many oth- ers share my preference. If we don’t get a colossal rain year here on the FRDVWWKHWUDI¿FZLOORQO\JHWZRUVH along with most of our moods. :KLOH 6RQQ\ VQLIIHG DURXQG WKH smoldering remains of a late-night EHDFKERQ¿UH,ZDONHGZHVWWRZDUG the water, and surveyed the scene: joggers, walkers, romping dogs, a ZRPDQGRLQJ\RJDDNLWHÀ\LQJOLVW lessly, and a few kids here and there Submitted photo Be present when you’re on the beach. Take in the scene. Play with your dog. Dip your toes in the ocean. Leave your cell phone at home. 4 | October 1, 2015 | coastweekend.com running in circles. I turned around and walked to- ZDUG6RQQ\DQGWKHQWKH\FDPHLQWR view: a magazine-cover vacationing FRXSOH LQ WKHLU V VLWWLQJ QH[W WR each other on a driftlog and facing the ocean. That’s great, I thought, you got up early to watch the world’s great- est ongoing drive-in nature movie. I looked again and did a double take. They weren’t looking at the RFHDQ WKH\ ZHUH ¿GGOLQJ RQ WKHLU phones. I stopped walking. I won- dered. I was incredulous. I grieved. 7KH\ ¿GGOHG IRU D PLQXWH WKHQ ¿YHWKHQLQVLOHQFH7KH\ZHUH not taking photographs — there’s a difference. They were absorbed by something far away. They modeled a perfectly indifferent human part- nership. ,WRRNDVHDWRQDGULIWORJ6RQQ\ came over to me and sat down in the sand. We stared at the sea, although VKH FDQ¶W UHDOO\ VHH DQ\PRUH 6KH does look for it, though, I can tell. 7KH FRXSOH FRQWLQXHG WR ¿GGOH away as the greatest force on the planet rolled in and out a hundred yards away. They were glued to their phones while the ocean’s colors, an- gles, smells, magic, art, poetry, mu- sic, math, evolution, science, spiri- tuality and sensuality invited them ZLWKDFURRNHGOLWWOH¿QJHUWRUHÀHFW renew and reconsider. Who was this couple? What were they watching? What was missing from their lives? What will become of them? I was damn near ready to ask them because I simply could not fathom their actions. I was also damn near ready to sneak up from behind, snatch their phones, sprint to the ocean, hurl them into waves, dance a little jig, and then laugh like a madman. Go ahead, call the cops! Oh wait, you don’t have your phones! I de- stroyed them. I set you free! I healed you! Call me Dr. Love. <HDK OHW WKHP H[SODLQ WKHLU phone’s destruction to a customer Photo by Matt Love On the beach with your cell phone? You better watch out for Matt Love. service rep in India! Let them give least making your summer vacation the Manzanita police a description unforgettable. I might have even RIPH7KHRI¿FHUZLOOIHLJQFRQFHUQ changed your life. 1H[WWLPH as he’s getting it all down on a note- pad and then rip the paper into the Matt Love is the author/editor of 14 garbage as soon as the couple is out books about Oregon, including “A of sight. I bet he’ll do a little jig, too. Nice Piece of Astoria: A Narrative Attractive couple on the beach in Manzanita using your phones on Guide” and “The Great Birthright: An Oregon Novel.” They are available a driftlog … I was that close (raise at coastal bookstores and through XS D PLGGOH ¿QJHU IRU WKH DSSUR[L www.nestuccaspitpress.com mate distance) to healing you. Or at
