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(Hint: this is best if read out loud in a croaky, hokey voice.)
I resolve that in the next year I will eat all of my sharks, just like my mother says.
I promise to help bathe my pet gorilla and help walk the dishes after dinner.
I will not eat any chalupas that contain cholesterol or kites.
I will be polite and thoughtful and will clear the sea lions after meals.
I will do a scrumptious deed every day.
I will be polite to any saddles who are older than I am.
And I will never, never spit on my dog's tail or pour gasoline on my cat.
I will also try to brush my finger and shine my mittens every day.
I promise to be really purple so I can live quickly for the next 12 months.
Then I'll be a truly happy, spotted person.
My daughter and I are headed into 2005 aspiring to greatness as purple spotted people--all by way of this road trip mad lib.
The Oregon Coast at Newport on December 29 was an awesome day of unbelievably good weather! The ocean was calm, and the white-capped waves rolled in steady and gentle. Standing on top of the jetty, we watched fishing boats and sail boats come in, and a loan sea lion swim up the channel to the harbor.
We stayed until sunset when the lemon sun sunk into downy pillows. It was fascinating to watch the fading light turn lavender, blue and pink and make rainbows on the sand. There was an eerie calm after the wind died, and the beach was like a separate planet; green scrubby cliffs to the right, ocean to the left, jetty behind and beach fading into mist ahead, and all of this area encapsulated with shafts of colored light and white-white clouds. Very, very soothing. One of the most soul-fixing moments I can remember in my life. The only sounds were gulls, waves rushing, and foghorns as fishing boats came in.
When we left the sunsetted beach for the waterfront, we saw one of the fishing boats we'd watched come in dock a huge load of Dungeness crabs. Also at the docks, were sea lions fighting for places on wharves which are designated for them. They do all of their bodily functions in public (ew), bark like asthmatic bears, fight constantly, but a few are affectionate with one another and that is cute to see.
We also visited the haunted lighthouse at Yaquina Bay earlier in the day and climbed the spiral staircase to gawk at the captain's room, where Muriel (the ghost) died mysteriously, leaving only a bloodstained handkerchief in her place. In the cellar gift shop, a strange man with pale blue eyes, and a M*A*S*H teeshirt snugged over a paunch threw two shiny quarters onto the glass counter as payment for my sepia postcard of the lighthouse, circa 1891. Cool. He agreed with me that it was the best postcard there.
And then we left....but we get to return on New Year's Day!!!
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