PEEK-A-BOO

The migration of the grey whales.

Changes in the dune patterns.

Coast Guard rescues.

Booty-seeking beachcombers.

Tide-chasing dogs.

Vermillion sunsets.

 Unexpected snowfall blanketing the shoreline.

These were the reports

I received from my ocean-loving mother

about the Pacific, my parent’s backyard,

seen from their solarium, until

the Tohoku, Japan earthquake

and tsunami, in 2011, sent a massive tree  

to their little sliver of the Oregon Coast,

to the beachfront just below the bluff

their house sits on.

For years after, the solarium reports

had one focus only:

Kids are using my tree as a jungle gym.

The tide is pruning its branches,

shearing off its bark, polishing the wood.

The sand has buried the trunk.

But then one fall

the reports stopped altogether.

Because there was nothing to report.

The tree, my mother’s tree,

her long time acquaintance, 

companion really,

had all but disappeared.

Only a stray limb remained.

For years not a single peep

about the famous tree. 

Nothing new to say.

Until last week when

a storm pummelled Newport.

Then I got this message:

Look what happened over night...

My tree was unveiled.

So happy! I had forgotten how huge it is.

I haven't seen "all" of it for 3 years :) !

Just goes to show you:

even Mother Nature loves

a good game of Peek-a-Boo.

Expect the unexpected.

What seems lost,

under the right conditions,

will reveal itself again.
Give it time.
Weather the storm.