California and Drawn by the Sea
Okay. Gonna kinda take a break from the Kenmore stuff for an entry or so. Still have more to tell on that one, but something else came to mind recently....and the beginnings of a poem....or whatever. Such as it is, consider it copyrighted.
The Sea is a jealous mistress
She never lets me go
She tempts me in the moonlight
And when the sun is setting low
Her pull is always strongest
When I'm unhappy and alone
And I forget I that get seasick
When her waves begin to roll
I have said, I think, that I was a Coastie for over 7 years, three of those spent on the U.S.C.G.C. Polar Star (WAGB-10). From those 3 years alone, the Sea would have its hold on me, such were my experiences on that red-hulled Icebreaker. But the truth is, the Sea has always called to me....always beckoned me to see what lies beyond the horizon....even on my best days. (That was true of any horizon when I was a kid and wanted to see what lie over the next hill...and escape...but that's a story for another day.) The Sea likely always will call to me to some extent. But I have found its pull strongest when I'm not happy where I'm at. Such was true when I lived in California for a time.
I was down there to attend The Actors Workshop in Laguna Hills and, ostensibly, to follow one of my childhood dreams, which was to be a film and television actor. I rented a room in a house in Lake Forest for $500 per month and then a room in a condo in Laguna Niguel for about the same, maybe a little more. I worked 2 jobs...dispatching/customer service full time for a plumbing and a/c company in Costa Mesa and unarmed security part time for a security company with an office across the street from The Actors Workshop studio in Laguna Hills. And I attended a couple of evening classes a week at The Actors Workshop. In short, I had almost no time to escape to something even remotely wildernessy. In fact, as I understood it, the closest real forest was something on order of 4 hours away in Big Bear. But the beach was nearby.
The office for the plumbing and a/c company I worked for in Costa Mesa was just up the hill from the beach at Newport Beach. And Laguna Niguel was not far at all from several beaches, including Laguna Beach. Much of what little time I had off was spent at one of those beaches.
Now, I was used to going to the beach with people...family members or whatever. To the beaches in California, I went alone. I had a few work friends that I could go visit, but none that I really went out and did anything with. That was fine for the most part, and I'm not discounting the value of alone time. Alone time is often how I recharge. But it made those trips to the beach, where I was surrounded by people and their families and friends, a little more lonely. But I still went because the Sea called to me.
I would sit by or on this large rock, below a house on an eroding cliff, and watch the waves and the horizon as the sun set. I would watch the families and friends play together some, but that made me miss my family all the more and the ocean grabbed my attention far more....to the extent that I almost considered going back in the Coast Guard as an active duty reservist.
Eventually, I realized that family and forests and wide open spaces where everyone didn't live on top of each other with no place to get away were more important to me than attending The Actors Workshop and becoming a film and television actor.. So I moved back home to Washington. And now I'm right where I need to be....on the path I was meant to be on.
I still love acting and as I said, the sea still calls to me. I wade into the waves and meditate and listen to Mother Ocean on occasion. But her pull is less now. I'm where I need to be. I'm happy and with those I love and care about.
*You will notice, no doubt, that I call the Sea/Ocean "Mistress" at one point and "Mother" at another. She is both. Talk about complicated relationships.
The Sea is a jealous mistress
She never lets me go
She tempts me in the moonlight
And when the sun is setting low
Her pull is always strongest
When I'm unhappy and alone
And I forget I that get seasick
When her waves begin to roll
I have said, I think, that I was a Coastie for over 7 years, three of those spent on the U.S.C.G.C. Polar Star (WAGB-10). From those 3 years alone, the Sea would have its hold on me, such were my experiences on that red-hulled Icebreaker. But the truth is, the Sea has always called to me....always beckoned me to see what lies beyond the horizon....even on my best days. (That was true of any horizon when I was a kid and wanted to see what lie over the next hill...and escape...but that's a story for another day.) The Sea likely always will call to me to some extent. But I have found its pull strongest when I'm not happy where I'm at. Such was true when I lived in California for a time.
I was down there to attend The Actors Workshop in Laguna Hills and, ostensibly, to follow one of my childhood dreams, which was to be a film and television actor. I rented a room in a house in Lake Forest for $500 per month and then a room in a condo in Laguna Niguel for about the same, maybe a little more. I worked 2 jobs...dispatching/customer service full time for a plumbing and a/c company in Costa Mesa and unarmed security part time for a security company with an office across the street from The Actors Workshop studio in Laguna Hills. And I attended a couple of evening classes a week at The Actors Workshop. In short, I had almost no time to escape to something even remotely wildernessy. In fact, as I understood it, the closest real forest was something on order of 4 hours away in Big Bear. But the beach was nearby.
The office for the plumbing and a/c company I worked for in Costa Mesa was just up the hill from the beach at Newport Beach. And Laguna Niguel was not far at all from several beaches, including Laguna Beach. Much of what little time I had off was spent at one of those beaches.
Now, I was used to going to the beach with people...family members or whatever. To the beaches in California, I went alone. I had a few work friends that I could go visit, but none that I really went out and did anything with. That was fine for the most part, and I'm not discounting the value of alone time. Alone time is often how I recharge. But it made those trips to the beach, where I was surrounded by people and their families and friends, a little more lonely. But I still went because the Sea called to me.
I would sit by or on this large rock, below a house on an eroding cliff, and watch the waves and the horizon as the sun set. I would watch the families and friends play together some, but that made me miss my family all the more and the ocean grabbed my attention far more....to the extent that I almost considered going back in the Coast Guard as an active duty reservist.
Eventually, I realized that family and forests and wide open spaces where everyone didn't live on top of each other with no place to get away were more important to me than attending The Actors Workshop and becoming a film and television actor.. So I moved back home to Washington. And now I'm right where I need to be....on the path I was meant to be on.
I still love acting and as I said, the sea still calls to me. I wade into the waves and meditate and listen to Mother Ocean on occasion. But her pull is less now. I'm where I need to be. I'm happy and with those I love and care about.
*You will notice, no doubt, that I call the Sea/Ocean "Mistress" at one point and "Mother" at another. She is both. Talk about complicated relationships.