In March of 2022, Terri and I spent an entire month on the Oregon coast. We rented a house a few miles to the south of Newport, Oregon. Each evening we would check the tides and the weather and make our plan on which beach we wanted to explore and experience. We stayed very local and when we found a beach we liked we would go back several times. About the 3rd week into our month in Newport, we discovered a beach that just stunned us with its beauty. It was located on the north side of the Seal Rock State Park. The tide pools were simply the best we had ever experienced!
The photo at the top of this blog article was taken during our visit to this special beach. There are a series of rocks there that act like a protective barrier against the pounding surf behind the rocks. As I was exploring one of the tide pools at these rocks I came face to face with this seal that was about with 50 feet away. We locked eyes and I took a number of photographs as the surf pounded behind the rock. It was one of those moments that stick with long after you leave. We did return again a couple more times to this same beach before we headed back home but we vowed to return again someday.
Well, this past month we got another opportunity to returned back to Newport area. We spent a week there with several of my siblings and their spouses. It was our chance to show them some of the beauty of this section of the Oregon coast. We went back to many of our favorite beaches including our "cherished beach" on the north side of Seal Rock state park. We had a different experience since it was fall not spring and the low tides never got really low during our stay. At first, I was disappointed not to be able to share with my family the those amazing tide pools we experienced but then I remembered a mantra I picked up a few years ago, "Repetition is NOT Redundancy". There is so much truth in this mantra and yet I often will catch myself saying to myself, "Oh, I have been there before... or I already did that..." and then suggest we go somewhere else or do something different instead. Wrong!
When we jump to the conclusion that there is nothing new to be seen or discovered by repeat visits to an area we previously visited, we are closing off the possibilities to be surprised. Our repeat visit to the Newport beaches proofed this point again. This visit to Newport did not have the low tides but we all enjoyed beachcombing the high tide areas and get up close to some amazing intertidal wave action. Ocean beaches are always in a state of change. Returning back over and over is never boring! There is always something new to discover.
One day I was walking with my sister at mid-tide and I looked down and there was this beautiful agate rock. I could not believe my eyes. It was not in the streams where many of the agate hunters look for agates. I was right there all by itself on the sand. The image below is a photo of the agate. (I did not capture an image of as I found it so this is a photo edited version to give you a sense of the setting)
I just was blown away again how the ocean beaches are always presenting us gifts if we return over and over. I just need to keep reminding myself, "Repetition is not Redundancy" everyday. Always keeping myself open and ready to be surprised!
Be surprised by the grace of repetition!
John
Here is one of the photos from one of the beach walks in Newport. I love the way this image draws me in and gives me a sense of endlessness!
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