I was born in the land of Great Lakes. Large lakes were part of my growing up. I swam in Lake Michigan, Superior, Erie, Huron, and Lake St. Clair. I have driven across the Mackinac bridge on numerous occasions looking east and west and marveling at the vast expense of fresh water. Standing on the shores of Lake Superior I have been in awe as I watched a wave lift a 5 ton piece of ice and toss it inland as the wave crashed against the ice shelf in March. The piece of ice seeming like a piece of foam to the power of the wave. But when I come to the Pacific Ocean, I am amazed at the thought of the thousands of miles of water, water, and more water. And not water that is 10 feet deep or 200 feet deep, or even a thousand feet deep like the Great Lakes. Here the water is thousands of feet deep. How small we are.

On this day it is quite tranquil for a late November day on the north Oregon Coast. The waves are perhaps 3 or 4 feet. No big waves crashing against the rocks today. No waves washing up the sandy beach. I stood where the highest waves were reaching, always looking for that rogue wave that will wash up higher, never seeing that wave that washes up higher.

The clouds were thin bands stretching north and south. Blue sky above, the sun shining on the small waves as they break on the shore. A light breeze blowing in from the ocean. The calm before the storm.

I have often said that I much prefer the mountains to the ocean. In the mountains I can point in any direction and start walking, exploring new vistas with every step. At the ocean half my path is blocked. I am a good swimmer, but the water is cold, the distance far. But there is solace in the waves. When I took this picture, one other person was walking on this 3 mile stretch of beach. Time seemed to stand still. But the constant rhythmic movement of water across the sand sends the message, time moves ever forward. Miles of ocean, only the sound of a few birds and the constant swish of water across sand. There is strife across the globe. But on this stretch of ocean, silence, peace, tranquility.