Heart of Astoria

Life isn't all sunshine and puppies. That's a reality that settles in quickly in the Pacific Northwest, especially the sunshine part, especially in winter.

By mid-winter the sunshine is most sorely missed. Under a veil of gray clouds rain threatens and mists and falls. I find myself craving light and seeking it everywhere, anywhere. I chew little orange pellets of vitamin D3 and plug in my therapeutic blue light panel.

Sometimes though, when the mood is right and I filter the light from within, I begin to see a little radiance sparking in all directions. Sitting at a window table in a restaurant in Astoria, savoring oysters and chocolate with my Valentine, I feel the nudge of light dancing in the streets. I see it in festive dress as it floats from the streetlights and bounces from the windows onto the damp pavement with a bright joy. Reflections scatter. The dusty gray has been washed clean and is gilded with luminous color that peers through the window and rests on the table beside me.

In a small vase the colored light gathers and polishes a collection of baubles. At a certain angle the colorful baubles appear to be folded along a corner seam. They reach into my mind like a Rorschach evaluation and I see a heart there, folded and cut like a homemade Valentine.

Gazing sideways into that vase at the edge of my table I have to smile. If I just looked harder I might even find sunshine and puppies.