After seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s film, “The Birds”, filmed in the small coastal town of Bodega, and on the coast in Bodega Bay, California, and despite the terror illustrated in the film, the Cordovas decided to check out Bodega Bay as a family vacation spot. I’ve spent time in Bodega Bay my whole life.
My parents would announce, “pack a bag, we are heading to the coast”, and we’d take off for a week. We’d stay at the, then small and affordable Bodega Bay Lodge, eat yummy seafood at the Tides Wharf, fish off the jetty at Doran Beach, walk our favorite beaches in search of colorful pebbles and in-tact sand dollars, hike amongst second growth giants in Armstrong forest, and generally live and love life on the Coast of Northern California.
The ocean is in my blood. A true Pisces I need to get my dose of being near the ocean on a regular basis. Near the ocean, I feel connected to my life more so than any other setting. My hair frizzes up in the ocean-misted air, a wildness to my look. Ocean-life satiates me, and keeps me feeling alive. The longer I am away from the ocean, depression sets in, and I have to make a plan to get to the beach as soon as possible.
I paint the beach (in my studio, or hotel), write at the beach, read at the beach, generally feel creative by the ocean. “My beach” is any beach I’m sitting on to soak in the sights, sounds, smells, of life at the edge of the world.
There was a moment when I was a little girl, sitting on a beach on the coast in Bodega Bay, I thought, 'I will remember this moment forever', the coastal wind in my ears, the salty smell of the ocean, the crash of waves, the warm sand on my feet, and not a concern in the world. I consider this moment my “fountain of youth”. It’s a moment of presence of mind, of truly feeling my life here on planet earth, a moment I can mentally return to in times of stress, a moment that will forever give me peace, and grounding, a moment of pure joy, a moment that lives forever, me in my purest form, me and my beach.
Thank you for reading.
M