Pud Chips
Reading Champion
I love the little signs you see along the road. I think my favorite today was Pud Chips. I mean, what the heck are pud chips anyway? I have an idea, and I don't think it's something to eat. We're driving towards
Astoria, Oregon after spending a couple of nights in Florence, Oregon. As I've mentioned, this is one of our favorite beaches ever. I don't really know why, but my family just relaxes when we're here. I'm sure it has something to do with the 3 mile long and 1/4 mile wide expanse of soft sand. Every time we visit Florence our stay seems too short. Lily always walks along the water's edge singing, dancing, looking for shells. At this moment she's the same little girl that she was two years ago when we first visited this beach, only taller.
There are a lot of people on the beach, and I laugh at the different way Cork and I respond to the looks Lily gets from just about everyone over the age of 12. I want to have a T-shirt made that reads "Born in 1999" and Cork wants to have one made that says "$1 a look." If you know Cork, it's actually pretty funny. Anyway, it's interesting to be in Lily's presence these days. It's almost like watching a party but not being invited. I think it's where the word "bittersweet" comes from. Her sense of humor is deepening along with her general knowledge of life and the way things work, making her commentary sharp (sometimes too much so) and really, really funny. Unfortunately, much of the time we're not invited to share in this commentary or respond to it. It's like there's a big "keep out" sign across her personal experience these days. There are still many moments when the sign isn't there, and my hope is that this trip will help us learn how to navigate around it when it is.
