Our wonderful hosts brought us a large, mesh tote bag packed with a pair of beach towels, a picnic blanket, and a coupleof water bottles, and Devon thanked them and slung it over his shoulder. Then he took my hand and said, “I think you’re going to like this.” When I glanced at the two women, they looked delighted, possibly because we were holding hands.
Devon led me out the back of the motel and down a dirt path, which wound through a grove of manzanita trees. “Jan and Janice are really nice, and they obviously adore you,” I said.
“They’re the best.”
“They mentioned you seemed lonely when you were here before, which was surprising. You’ve never seemed that way to me.”
“That’s because I stopped being lonely when I met you,” he said with a smile.
“But you talk to people and make friends wherever you go.”
“That’s not the same as having one special person I care about, who’s along to share in the adventure.”
I mulled that over for a while, until the trees gave way to a rocky cliff face and a panoramic ocean view. “The cove is right down there,” Devon said, gesturing at some worn wooden stairs that meandered down the slope to a small beach.
“Are those stairs safe? They look ancient.”
“They’re built into the hillside, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. They’ve probably been here for eighty years, and I bet they’ll be here for eighty more.”
I had a feeling that if I wasn’t there, Devon would have fearlessly bounded down the stairs two at a time. Instead, he humored me and held my hand while I took one cautious step at a time. The wooden beams did feel pretty solid, but they were extremely uneven. If I tripped and fell, I was pretty sure I’d roll all the way to the bottom. Getting airlifted to a hospital definitely wasn’t the way I wanted to start our trip.
Eventually, we reached the cove. The cliffs around us formed a C-shape, disintegrating into rocks and boulders that tumbledinto the Pacific on either side of the sandy beach. “I always love being at the ocean, but there are two things that make this place extra special,” Devon said, as he spread out the red picnic blanket and placed the bag on top of it. “First, it’s totally private. Come with me, and I’ll show you the second thing.”
I followed him as he climbed up onto a boulder and held out his hand for me. After he helped me up, he said, “We’re in luck. It’s close to low tide.”
“Is the beach under water at high tide?”
“No, but this is.” He gestured at the rocky outcropping, which formed a relatively flat surface punctuated by little pools of water.
I didn’t get why that would matter, until something orange caught my eye and I exclaimed, “Oh wow, it’s a starfish!” I hurried over to it, and Devon chuckled and followed me. “That’s so cool. I’ve never seen one out in nature like that.”
“Does that mean you’ve never gone tidepooling?” I turned to him and shook my head, and he smiled at me. “I’m so glad I get to be here to share this with you.”
I followed him to a pool of water, and we both crouched down to get a better look. It was filled with things that looked like puffy, lime green flowers, and when I asked what they were, he said, “Sea anemones.”
There was a large one directly beneath me, and I asked, “Will I hurt it if I touch it?”
“Not if you do it lightly.”
I gently brushed one of the creature’s tentacles and said, “It feels sticky.”
“That sensation is actually the anemone trying to sting you.” I yanked my hand back, and he explained, “They use venom to paralyze their tiny prey, but our skin is way too tough for them to harm us.”
“Why do you know that?”
“I learned it at the aquarium in my hometown when I was twelve or thirteen. I used to spend a lot of time there.”
We spent the next hour or so climbing over rocks and making all sorts of discoveries. At one point, I glanced up at Devon and said, “I feel like you’re watching me more than the sea creatures.”
“Oh, I am. I’m thoroughly enjoying your reactions.”
When we finally returned to the blanket, Devon started to strip, and I asked, “What are you doing? It’s cold out here.”
“It’s probably sixty-eight or so.”
“Which is cold!”
“It’s not that bad. I’m going to take a quick plunge.”
